Flash Fics
by LeaderPinhead
Summary: A compilation of various, short fics featuring various characters, continuities, and genres. [The Massive Dump Edition: In which, Heatwave is a team leader, Jeffrey explores his inner Beyonce, Blue breaks the law, Wheeljack and Ratchet play a game, little Orion wanders the Hall of Records, Sideswipe diagnoses people, Miko saves a kitten, Blue smiles, and 'Bee babysits an egg.]
1. 1: G1

**AN: **It's been a while since I've posted anything new here (not accounting the recent short I added to _Rebirth_), so I've decided to start posting some of the things I've been writing on dA. This "story" will be a compilation of short, prompt filled fics that I've been writing weekly for a group over on dA, and they all consist of various characters, continuities, and genre. I'll group them together in sets of three because they're so short, and upload a new set for the next week until I've posted all of the ones I've written up to this date :)

* * *

Brig Time  
Prompt: Optimism  
Characters: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Ironhide  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 346  
**Summary: **One mech's enthusiasm is another mech's annoyance.

* * *

Sunstreaker glared across the aisle at where his brother sat. Sideswipe grinned back at him as he playfully attempted to swing his legs on the berth he sat on. It would have worked if he legs hadn't been so long, resulting in the heel of his feet to obnoxiously scrap against the floor. The yellow front-liner twitched each time it happened.

_Scree!_

_Scree!_

_SCREE!_

"_Sideswipe_!"

"Yes, my lovable bundle of sunshine?"

Sunstreaker's fingers automatically clenched the edge of the berth he sat on, leaving small indentions behind when he finally relaxed his grip. "Will you stop it?"

"Stop what, sunshine?" _Scree!_

The annoyed mech's fingers went straight back to clenching his berth. "_That_."

_Scree!_ "What? Swinging my legs? But why? I do that when I'm happy."

_Scree!_ "We're in the fraggin' brig until Prime's team gets back from their Energon run. How could you possibly be _happy_ right now?"

_Scree! _"Because I know we'll get out sooner than that."

_Scree! _"How? Unless you suddenly shoot up two feet and begin spouting competent speeches about freedom, I don't see us getting out any sooner."

_Scree!_ "You just wait, Sunny-boy. Just wait."

_Scree!_ "Don't call me that."

_Scree! _"But sunshine-"

"That's it!"

Sideswipe stopped swinging his legs as Ironhide appeared from where he had been sitting near the entrance of the brig. The older red mech glared at the two twins before punching his access code into the control panel beside their cells. Both doors simultaneously popped open. "I can't take it no more! Don't nobody wanna be stuck with you two for brig duty. Now get out before I change my mind."

Sunstreaker unhurriedly stepped out of his open door while Sideswipe all but skipped out. The jaunty twin grinned as they followed the ornery Ironhide out of the brig. "See? What'd I tell you, Sunshine? I knew we'd get out earlier than expected. Must be my dazzling charm that no one can resist."

Sunstreaker grunted and whipped his hand out to punch his brother in the abdomen, making Sideswipe dramatically lurch forward. "Don't call me that."

* * *

Unspoken Code  
Prompt: Spring  
Characters: Steeljaw, Blaster, Rewind, Eject, Ramhorn  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 463  
**Summary: **Cassettes look out for one another.

* * *

A field of multicolored flora swayed in the light breeze that washed over the glistening lake they surrounded. Their alluring scents permeated the immediate area around them, and their dazzling colors attracted a range of pollinators to spread their pollen. As the breeze stilled, a little patch of golden chrysanthemums continued to gently quake, nearly invisible puffs of dust shaking from the blooming buds. Bees angrily buzzed away as they were disturbed from their perches, but the flowers continued to shake as the perpetrator prowled through the clustered mass of yellow flowers and tall grass.

The golden feline rubbed his muzzle against one of the drooping buds, tickling his snout with the small, thin petals, before continuing his slow journey through the undergrowth. He was careful to avoid the invisible lines where the equally golden flowers gave way to the other various shades of vegetation or where the ground dipped into the waters on the other side of the flowers. At any strange sound, he would pause, flexible, metallic ears moving as they searched for the point of origin. When all seemed to be clear, he would continue his stealthy crawl, and his topaz optics watched the stems around him for any intruder.

He suddenly stopped to rub against the chrysanthemums once more, taking in their pungent scent. The clean, woodsy scent of Earth's flora always did well to chase away the other odors that plagued his sensitive olfactory sensors.

"Steeljaw? I know ya like the scene, my cat, but we gotta get back ta the _Ark_ 'fore someone start's noticin' we're gone."

Steeljaw's belly dragged against the ground as he huddled into the leafy bushes of the flowers. Peeking through the waving petals, he could see his Cassette deck walking through another part of the field, optics roving around the area in search for the rogue Cassette. Two smaller mechs hopped through the field beside him, and Steeljaw could only assume that the shaking buds far behind them belonged to the only other four-legged Cassette Blaster housed.

He gave a soundless yawn as a bright blue visor roved over his hiding place, the little red light on the side of his fellow Cassette's head signaling that he was recording. "Hey Blaster! Did you know that the chrysanthemum is one of the most prominent spring flowers in this particular area on Earth? Not only is it used for decoration, but the humans actually use the leafy portion for their food as well such as…"

Steeljaw settled down into the field of flowers as Rewind continued with his usual informational babble while Eject attempted to gaud both Blaster and Ramhorn into a quick game of Europe's version of football. He wasn't too worried about being found just yet—his fellow Cassettes had his back.

* * *

Training  
Prompt: Anticipation  
Characters: Bluestreak, Sideswipe, Prowl, Jazz  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 100  
**Summary:** Breathe, aim, fire.

* * *

Deep inhale.

Steady hand.

Make sure the target was centered between the crosshairs.

Aim…

Now fire!

Bluestreak stood up from his crouch as Sideswipe swung around in surprise, and a hearty laugh from Jazz could be heard through the room. The holograms broadcasted by the training simulator diminished in a burst of color, and Sideswipe flinched at the sight of Prowl straightening from where he had been hidden, right door-wing now splattered with paint.

Bluestreak waited, hands tightly clenched around the handle of his rifle, before a proud smile appeared at the small nod of approval from the older Praxian.


	2. 2: Prime

**AN:** Thanks for the positive feedback guys! Here's a set that actually became a "trilogy" of sorts. The second and third piggyback on the first, and they're all about the _Prime_ 'Bots and their human charges spending a long day at the beach ;D

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Down Time  
Prompt: Vacation  
Characters: Arcee, Jack, Bulkhead, Miko, Bumblebee, Rafael  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 495

* * *

"Surf's up, dude!"

Arcee sighed right along with her human partner when Miko broke through the Ground Bridge at a dead run with a hefty board held above her head. Bulkhead laughed at the young girl's enthusiasm and only checked the empty, enclosed beach once before following his charge down to the water. Bumblebee beeped in confusion at their surroundings, but Rafael promptly caught his attention, and the duo settled down on the sand not far from the diminishing portal.

The blue scout paid more attention to their surroundings than her other comrades and found it somewhat annoying that they would dismiss that small precaution. Sure she trusted Ratchet to bridge them to a relatively safe location, but a little caution never hurt.

Jack caught the motorcycle's quick survey of the area and chuckled. "Come on, 'Cee. There's no one around for miles."

"It doesn't hurt to check," Arcee insisted. She finished the quick check of the area and focused on Miko and Bulkhead, the former already swimming out towards the gentle waves that flowed towards them while the latter watched. She glanced over and caught Bumblebee raptly listening to Rafael explain the process of "sandcastles." "And what exactly was the point of this?"

"The point?" Jack repeated. Arcee tilted her head when the teenager pulled his shirt off and placed it on the sand beside the shoes he had kicked off. Bumblebee beeped in amazement as the first sandcastle was erected, and Bulkhead was beginning to go full guardian when Miko began to try and stand on top of her surfboard. "It's summer."

"So?"

"_So_? School's finally out, and it's time to relax."

"By getting sand in our joints and rusting at the speed of light?"

Jack sighed at the sight of Arcee's dubious look. "Come on, Arcee. Just…relax a little. We found this place just so you guys could enjoy it with us as _you_."

The teenager calmly went down to the water just as Miko was taking another tumble off her board. The energetic girl burst back out of the water with a call of reassurance to Bulkhead, who was tiptoeing around the very edge of the surf that washed up on shore. The sound of enthusiastic whirrs and laughter signified that Bumblebee and Rafael were enjoying their chosen activity.

Arcee merely sighed and reached up to tap the side of her helm. "Optimus?"

"Yes."

"I'm stuck here, aren't I?"

"It appears that Ratchet may be having difficulty with the Ground Bridge at the moment. Perhaps you should take the time to enjoy a game that Jack called 'volleyball.'"

"And the 'Cons?"

"Are showing little activity at the moment. Enjoy what the humans describe as a 'vacation.'"

Arcee sighed once more as the signal was dropped and stared at her group. Jack caught her gaze and gestured the ball he held at her. The scout sighed once more and reluctantly nodded.

Thus, Arcee learned that volleyball and Cybertronians did not mix well.

* * *

Sand Buddies  
Prompt: Heat  
Characters: Rafael, Bumblebee, Miko, Bulkhead, Jack, Arcee  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 500

* * *

Rafael chuckled when Bumblebee frantically beeped at the volleyball that barely missed their growing sand village. The scout huffed as he watched Miko run after the ball and return to the net that had been set up and beeped a few times towards the two teams that faced off. Rafael simply laughed a little more at the small, chiding speech his companion gave the others. "It's okay, 'Bee. If anything happens, we can just rebuild it."

Bumblebee whirred, and his door-wings fluttered as he scooped up a good amount of wet sand. He flexed his fingers in an attempt to dislodge the clumps of sand that made it between his joints and released a series of beeps that Rafael was prepared to respond to. "Yeah, sorry about that 'Bee. Guess I didn't really think sandcastles through, huh? We could go join the others if you want."

The yellow scout was shaking his head before the human had finished, lower octave whirrs and beeps furthering his lack of want to join the game. Bumblebee's optics quickly cycled through settings to glare at the ball that went bouncing by them again. Rafael laughed at the choice beeps his Autobot friend gave Bulkhead when the former Wrecker sheepishly apologized for how close the ball had come to knocking over the few castles they had erected. "'Bee! It's not that big of a deal. We can make more if anything happens."

Bumblebee seemed to realize how foolish he must have appeared, threatening to pop a silly ball and sticking sand up his Cybertronian companions' tailpipes if harm befell their little creations. Rafael smiled and barely acknowledged the victorious shouts coming from Bulkhead and Miko. "It's fine. I completely understand. When I'm at home and working on a computer program that's taken me hours to set up, I get really angry when I see any of my siblings anywhere _near_ my laptop. You've worked really hard to make these sandcastles."

Door-wings fluttered up in a sign of gratitude for the little human's understanding of his overly protective behavior, and Bumblebee whirred in question of where to erect the next one. However, his whirrs were cut off when a ball plopped right down in the center of their village, spewing sand in all directions. The enclosed beach went deathly silent as both Bumblebee and Rafael stared at the ball.

"Uh…."

The sound had barely left Bulkhead when Bumblebee was ricocheting off the ground, a long, drawn out whine and erratically waving door-wings signaling his anger. He waved his finger around at the stunned group of volleyball players before snatching up the fragile ball they had been playing with and throwing it towards Arcee. The scout huffed as the bulk of his anger seemed to be tamed while the femme struggled to extract the popped remains of the ball from the wing-like kibble on her back.

Rafael gave the still faintly beeping Autobot a calming pat on the leg and began helping him rebuild their crushed sandcastles.

* * *

Surf's Up!  
Prompt: Summer  
Characters: Miko, Bulkhead, Rafael, Bumblebee, Jack, Arcee  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 477

* * *

"Cowabunga!"

Bulkhead tried not to cringe as he watched his human charge dive headlong into the frothy waves of the ocean. He could feel his spark thrum with worry at the sight of Miko paddling further out into the water on her surfboard. Whereas Jack now preferred to lay out in the sun with Arcee, and Rafael was now collecting seashells with Bumblebee for souvenirs, Miko—his daredevil little charge—would rather take her new surfboard and swim as far out as possible to "ride" the waves back to shore.

And that made Bulkhead internally fret.

"Bulkhead!" Miko waved from where she was sitting on her surfboard, gently floating up and down on the smaller waves that flowed beneath her. He gave her a sheepish wave back; like she needed to yell and wave to get his attention. Bulkhead was focused on her like a cybercat with a glitch mouse. She gave him a thumbs up when she spotted a big enough wave to surf. "Watch this!"

Oh, he was watching. And he was _not_ liking the size of that wave coming up behind her. "Miko…"

"This is gonna be wicked!"

Bulkhead watched as Miko concentrated and got into a position to ride the upcoming wave. He didn't care how he may have looked, tiptoeing along the edge of the salty water. Miko was going up on her board, wobbling to and fro before becoming more stable. That certainly didn't last long though.

His spark jumped when the young human went tumbling off the surfboard. Miko had been in the middle of a raging battle with the Decepticons; she had been trapped in a completely different dimension; and been face-to-face with some of the meanest 'Cons out there.

But Bulkhead was feeling more terrified than ever when the wave passed and Miko didn't resurface.

"Miko?" Jack and Arcee had jumped up from their relaxing positions, and Rafael and Bumblebee were staring in his direction, but Bulkhead paid them no attention as he took his first steps into the salty water. "Miko!"

A pink and black blob suddenly popped out of the water, and Miko released a loud whoop as she climbed back up onto her surfboard. "Did you see that? That was _wicked_!"

Bulkhead reached a hand up to calm his jumping spark and waited for the human girl to drift on the waves to be flattened against his feet. He sighed and shook his head when she angled her head to grin up at him. "You finally got over your fear of the water, Bulk?"

The huge, former Wrecker sighed again at the innocent grin beaming up at her. But a small part of him couldn't resist grinning back. "A little."

"Awesome! Here, I'll show you how this all works."

Bulkhead was just happy that Miko had to come back onto the sand to teach him.


	3. 3: IDW Set

**AN:** All of these ficlets take place in the IDW comic verse. Other than that, they're not really related to one another (unless you count the fact that I loved writing them because they're sent in the comics :3).

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Perspective  
Prompt: Explain Something  
Characters: Arcee, Windblade, Chromia, Nauticas  
Universe: IDW (vaguely within the "Dark Cybertron" arc)  
Word Count: 499  
**Summary: **Arcee takes a moment to contemplate her existence.

* * *

It was not natural.

That had been one of the many turbulent thoughts that had plagued Arcee since being abandoned by Jhiaxus. They were seen as a genderless race, but one source of tampering had completely changed that. Arcee had been the poor victim of circumstances—chosen on a whim, altered for the name of "science," and subsequently left with the single-minded focus of one day finding her revenge for what Jhiaxus had done to her.

Just because he _could_.

His actions deserved her vengeance—her anger. It had left her traumatized, alone, _different_. She had been violated on levels that few other Cybertronians could even imagine, and she was forever seen as different because of the mad genius' tampering. It also left her leaning over the precarious cliff of "sanity."

Arcee's anger for everything that was done to her had ebbed a little after spending those few, wonderful years constantly driving her blade through the mech's chests. It had made her a little more accepting—soothed her to the point where she could function on a less…_psychotic_ level, she supposed.

However, the thoughts had never completely left her. It was not "normal." There was no other "fembot" that she had encountered during her long life on Cybertron. She was the only one, an anomaly created through science to function with the naturally occurring world around her.

She was alone…or so it had seemed

In the wake of the Necrotitan's defeat, Arcee stood staring at a trio of fembots conversing with everyone else. Arcee did not see the same anger or traumatization that had haunted her, making her slightly envious. They were _happy_ with what they were; they did not even seem to question it! They were comfortable in their frames as they went about their business, not even attempting to blend into the mechs around them.

How was that possible? Certainly they had been through what she had.

"Hi!"

Arcee stared at the young fembot that now approached her. The strange paint marking her face stood out against her other dark features, and the smile was something that Arcee did not expect. "I'm Windblade, and you must be Arcee. I was pretty surprised to hear that you were the only fembot around here."

"Surprised?"

"Sure. There's plenty of other fembots back on Caminus. It's weird to see that it's not the same here too. Must get pretty boring with only mechs around. Let me introduce you to Chromia and Nautica."

Arcee refused to take the hand that was offered to her, but she followed Windblade to her other companions. Arcee listened to them in the rare calm anyone had nowadays. They acted no different from the others. None of it was unnatural to them. It was just a simple cultural concept outside of their own that they had accepted; it did not change them from what they were.

This was _normal_ for them.

And that fact opened up a whole new perspective for the lonely fembot to contemplate.

* * *

Don't Like, Don't Read  
Prompt: Tropes  
Characters: Ultra Magnus, Rodimus, Drift, Whirl  
Universe: MTMTE  
Word Count: 499  
**Summary:** Sometimes, life on the _Lost Light_ is just one big fanfiction.

* * *

"Rodimus, we have a situation."

Rodimus didn't look up from the trail his laser left in his desk. When Ultra Magnus came to him with a "situation" it often involved some teeny-tiny problem that Rodimus didn't care for. Like some emergency exit wasn't up to standard protocol. Who really cared about that?

"This isn't a situation you can ignore, Rodimus." The captain jumped when a data-pad was slammed onto his desk. Drift, who had been silently standing off to the side, yelped when the laser nearly sliced through one of the finials on his helm. "I will not stand for such…such…defamation!"

"Look, Magnus, just because someone went and added footnotes to the Autobot Code—"

"They what!"

Drift smiled when Ultra Magnus automatically turned to glare at the former Decepticon, but the bigger mech quickly shook his head and pointed at the data-pad. "I'll investigate that next, but I _strongly_ feel that this material should be prohibited on the ship, and the publisher rightfully punished."

Rodimus sighed, and the way his optics flashed indicated his disinterest in the tablet he picked up. Drift sidled around the desk to read over the captain's shoulder and visibly flinched when the flamed mech shouted. "What the heck—who wrote this?"

"Finally! We see optic-to-optic on an issue. I've narrowed down the list—"

"Even if you are bigger, I wouldn't let you top!" Ultra Magnus stared as Drift took the data-pad for Rodimus to point at his second-in-command in a very offended manner. "Let's get something straight here: _I_ am the topper whenever—"

"Rodimus! You're missing the point here. Rewind nearly beheaded Tailgate when he read the essay labeled 'The Mini-Bot and the Mnemo-Surgeon.'"

"Other than it being completely _inaccurate_ and horrifically written, there isn't anything I can do," Rodimus huffed. He didn't even want to know what on the data-pad made Drift giggle. "Besides, Rung uses this for therapy or something. Says it keeps some of the more antsy patients calm."

"Who would possibly write—?"

"Hey!" Attention was redirected towards the open door where the ship's resident psycho stood. Whirl stomped into the room and snatched the data-pad from Drift. "I should've known that you had something to do with my missing data-pad_._ If you wanna read it, you have to wait in line like everyone else."

"Who would possibly read that garbage?"

"Hey, don't like, don't read. Otherwise it's a full cube from Swerve's. Now outta my way."

Whirl stomped out of the office without any care for Magnus' glare. Rodimus shrugged and leaned back in his seat, pulling his laser back out. "Guess that's that."

"Rodimus—"

"You _really_ wanna take away the only thing keeping Whirl from losing it?"

Ultra Magnus actually pouted and twirled around to leave the office. Drift waited to see if he would come back before leaning on the edge of the desk beside Rodimus' new doodles. "You wonder why Whirl would write that?"

"Nope. And I'm not gonna pretend to understand."

* * *

Hypocritical Oath  
Prompt: Deception  
Characters: Pharma, First Aid  
Universe: MTMTE  
Word Count: 500  
**Summary:** Bad solutions to good intentions?

* * *

There was something about the dejected slump of First Aid's shoulders that Pharma actually envied. There was just…such an air of _innocence_ in the movement that Delphi's head medic could no longer remember feeling. Pharma took a moment to admire the lost emotion before seamlessly falling into the role of comforting superior.

First Aid looked up from cleaning the clinical tools they had used for the surgery when Pharma gently placed a hand on his shoulder. Pharma offered the other medic a soft smile and gently squeezed. "We can't save them all First Aid."

First Aid sighed and wouldn't look Pharma in the optic. "I know, I know. It's just...I don't know. It was such a simple procedure and I—"

"Stop right there." First Aid allowed himself to be turned to fully face Pharma. He attempted to duck his head, but the jet wouldn't allow it. Taking the junior medic's head between his hands, Pharma met First Aid's visored optics straight on. "We're medics, First Aid—not miracle workers. We did everything we could possibly do, but sometimes even our best falls short. Death is the one incurable ailment that we all must face at one point in our lives."

First Aid hesitated before nodding, and Pharma once more marveled at the gentle, _innocent_ glow of the mech's visor. A glow that foretold a mech who would believe anything. "You're right. I'm sorry with how unprofessional I seem."

Pharma grinned and shifted from holding First Aid's head to slapping him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'll let it slide this once. Why don't you go see if Ambulon needs a hand?"

First Aid shook his head but began moving towards the door anyway. "You know Ambulon really is a changed mech. If we ever want to see the end to this war, we have to start looking past the emblems we wear."

"Uh huh, and one day Megatron will become an Autobot." Pharma kept his smile on until the door to the operation room had firmly closed behind a chuckling First Aid. The expression immediately dropped the moment he was alone, and Pharma glanced over at the covered frame that still lay on the table. When he finally moved, his movements were fluid and precise—a trained medic in his element as he delicately swept up one of the tools that still possessed flecks of Energon from procedure before. His steps seemed louder than usual, but he whipped the cloth back without hesitation.

Pharma stared down at the mech he hadn't even bothered to learn the name of. It made it easier, not learning the names. No one would care for an unnamed mech that "slipped away" during surgery. Trained hands sought the small panel that hid the object he desired, and Pharma took a final look at the deceased mech's face as the drone of his saw filled the room. "If it helps, you're saving many more lives now than you did when you were alive."

* * *

Rookie  
Prompt: Practice  
Characters: Flatfoot, Prowl  
Universe: IDW  
Word Count: 100  
**Summary:** Even the best start at the bottom.

* * *

Flatfoot sighed, staring at the rigid kibble on the other mech's shoulders. The mech—a rookie with plenty of knowledge but lacking actual_experience_—stood staring down at the greying frame: the victim of the current serial killer the I.M.D. had been tracking. By the faint colors that could still be seen through the grey, they had just missed their killer too.

The senior officer took a moment to pat the mech's shoulder as he passed. "Next time you'll figure it out before he strikes. Practice makes perfect, kid."

Prowl twitched and turned away, door-wings set at a determined angle.


	4. 4: G1

**AN:** G1 :D

* * *

Seeker Mischievousness  
Prompt: Sentence Prompt—You're not fooling anyone.  
Characters: Thundercracker, Skywarp  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 498  
**Summary: **In which, Skywarp proves to be a tad smarter than originally thought.

* * *

"Oh, TC!"

Thundercracker immediately frowned at the sound of the voice and turned to face the mech that had addressed him. The purple and black jet similar to his frame design widely smiled at him. Thundercracker's vermillion optics immediately caught the mischievous glint in his comrade's optics. "What do you want, Skywarp?"

"_Nothin_'," Skywarp answered. However, the way the word was innocently stressed had Thundercracker's frown deepening. "I just saw ya wondering around and thought I'd say hi!"

The friendly smile coming from the Seeker was completely negated by the way his wings twitched with restrained glee, and Thundercracker was not fooled for a second. He had been teamed up with Skywarp more than enough to pick up on those subtle signs. "Alright, you've done that. Now please leave."

The younger Decepticon remained unmoved by the cyan mech's polite demand and parked himself on the counter Thundercracker stood in front of. Thundercracker frowned when a wing was shoved in his face, blocking his access to the faction's public Energon dispenser. All he had wanted was his small ration of Energon. Was that seriously too much to ask for?

"But _TC_, I thought we were buds."

"Are you this annoying to Starscream too?"

"'Screamer loves me." Thundercracker found that very hard to believe but was prevented from saying so when the wing was shoved further in to his face. "My status with Star aside, could you help me? I just got outta the med-bay, and I think Hook mighta welded my wing wrong. Can you take a look at it?"

The smugness that had bled in to Skywarp's grin was more than enough reason for Thundercracker to abruptly shove the mech away. Skywarp yelped at the sudden move and fell in to a heap on the ground. Thundercracker glared down at the mech when he whined. "You're kidding, right? I've seen you pull that prank on the idiotic Coneheads more than enough times to figure it out. Find a new human prank to pull because the tube of water you tape to the back of your wing is getting old."

Skywarp pouted and climbed back up to his feet when Thundercracker turned to ignore him. "Fine! Here I was, hoping my _teammate_ would lend a helping hand, and I get shot down. I see how it is now. Don't come crying to me the next time _your_ wing gets fragged up."

Thundercracker shook his head and briefly watched his teammate stomp out of the empty rec-room. Finally! Maybe now he could get his fuel in peace and get back to what he was-

Skywarp tried not to laugh too loudly as he stuck his head around the corner and watched the dispenser explode a couple of gallons of bright yellow paint on to the cyan Seeker. His willpower proved to not be enough, and he began guffawing at the sight of Thundercracker's wings lowering in a resigned manner.

Score one for Skywarp. Whose jokes were getting old now, _TC_?

* * *

Dominance  
Prompt: Predator  
Characters: Howlback, Ravage  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 326  
**Summary: **Ravage doesn't like to be second best.

* * *

Tension cables constricted with each fluid movement the black feline made. It prowled down the dark hallway, belly nearly scraping against the hard floor while the tips of Cybertitanium claws silently clicked with each movement it made. A rigid tail flicked in restrained anticipation, and sharp ruby optics watched its prey turn the corner.

With the trained precision of a warrior and the natural instincts of a feline, Ravage immediately picked up his speed to keep up with the older feline symbiote. Howlback may have been with the Decepticons for a longer period of time, but Ravage was determined to show that his skills overshadowed the older symbiote.

And how could the feline deny that it was better than watching Rumble and Frenzy drive the Seekers insane?

Ravage came to the corner Howlback had vanished around and fell back in to his crouch, slowly creeping around the corner while his flexible ears swiveled forward and strained to pick up every tiny sound. The feline stuck his muzzle around the corner before fully peeking around. The mechanical cat yowled when a large paw slapped down on the top of its head.

Howlback released a deadly growl at the younger symbiote that attempted to wiggle out from beneath her. Sharp fangs snapped down by one of Ravage's flexible ears, and Howlback gave him another swat to the head, almost as if to reprimand the other feline for the mistake it had made. How would Ravage make an effective predator when his prey heard him coming from miles away?

Ravage huffed at the physical reprimand and finally wiggled out of the cobalt feline's grasp. He attempted to hide his embarrassment with a snarl of his own. Howlback sniffed at the failed attempt at dominance and continued on her way. Ravage huffed and did an about-face to stalk off in the other direction, his claw clicking against the floor in shame.

He would get that other stupid Cassette one day!

* * *

Snuggle Buddies  
Prompt: Heat  
Characters: Cassettes, Soundwave  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 394  
**Summary:** Cassettes can't help that their frames have limits that fully sized Cybertronians don't have.

* * *

Having Ratbat flutter in to the surveillance hub and land on the top of his helm wasn't that big of a deal. A little odd, but it was _Ratbat_. The Cassette was known around the Decepticons to be a little odd at times. To see Laserbeak and Buzzsaw fly in soon after that wasn't strange either, seeing as they had just returned from a classified mission and needed to transfer their newfound intel in to the system. They liked perching on shoulders to do that, so it was only when they decided to snuggle in to the blue mech's neck that it got a little strange. Then came Ravage, slinking through door with the finesse of the feline he was to drape across his feet. Again, a little strange, but all four of the beast constructed Cassettes sometimes gave in to some primal coding they had inevitably received with their frames. Ravage would surrender to his feline side from time to time and just lounge on the nearest living berth if he could.

Things got weird when the Cassette twins decided to make his lap their temporary berth.

The blue mech currently stuck in front of the surveillance monitors carefully turned his head to glare at the mech he heard entering the room behind him. Soundwave blandly stared back at the Cassette-covered Seeker and returned to his station with the data-pad he had left to retrieve. He skillfully ignored the glaring Decepticon sitting beside him and linked back up with the main surveillance hub.

"You did this on purpose."

"Thundercracker: lack evidence."

Thundercracker's growl received an angry jab from Laserbeak when he disturbed the avian Cassette, who snuggled back in to his neck when he became silent again. "Why?"

"Cassette frames produce little heat. Seek host mech to compensate when in need of recharge. Seekers' larger frames exude high amounts of heat."

"I hate you."

"Soundwave acknowledges but lacks motivation to care."

Thundercracker snarled once more, his wings twitching in restrained aggravation when Soundwave casually disconnected from the monitors once more to go do whatever he deemed necessary as the Decepticon's third-in-command. One of the Cassette twins in his lap kicked at his cockpit while Ratbat fluttered around on his head for a more comfortable position.

Next time he was forgoing the "easy" job of monitor duty to help Skywarp take the base's inventory.


	5. 5: G1

**AN: **More G1 :D

* * *

Energon Confectionary  
Prompt: Unusual Irregular Verbs  
Characters: Wheeljack, Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Prowl, Ironhide, Red Alert  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 498  
**Summary:** Behold the genius of Wheeljack!

* * *

"Behold!"

The mechs currently taking part in the meeting stared at the device their engineer held up so proudly. Happy and sporadic blue lights came from the structures that framed Wheeljack's face, and yet none of the mechs present appeared to be very impressed. Ratchet scowled; Jazz blankly stared; Prowl twitched his kibble; and Optimus titled his head. "It is…um…what exactly _is_ this, Wheeljack?"

"The greatest thing created since Energon! You see this opening right here? Energon is poured in here, and after you seal it off, the first compartment begins to heat up. Once the Energon has reached a certain thickness, it funnels down in to the next compartment where the molds are filled. Here, pass these around. I brought them just to show them off."

Jazz snatched up the first mold that was tossed at them, twirling it around in an attempt to figure out the shape it was meant to make. Red Alert, who had been suspiciously glaring at Wheeljack the whole time, picked up one of the molds and stared at it. "Why is one shaped like Optimus' head?"

"Don't," Ratchet answered, his voice as deadpanned as possible. He refused to even look at the molds that were shaped like Cassettes. "Wheeljack's random ideas aren't meant to be dwelt on. You'll go crazy trying to make sense of it."

"Thank you, Ratchet! Anyway, the mixture is cooled and allowed to sit for a full day, and then you get these wonderful treats." Ironhide frowned at the solid pink morsel that was shoved into his face, and he sent a quick, private message to Optimus not to consume the strange thing that Wheeljack was offering them. "The humans call them 'gummies.' They're amazing little things and could possibly save over _half_ the amount of Energon we normally consume."

"Wheeljack…" Optimus trailed off as he gave the new Energon a thorough once over. "I am inclined to believe that you may be on to something. Are there any side-effects from having the Energon go through this process?"

"Absolutely, no-"

Ratchet suddenly cursed and vaulted out of his seat beside Prowl. He roughly slapped away the Energon gummy Jazz was about to munch on before leveling a nasty scowl at the confused engineer. "Wheeljack! How many times have I told you not to use the others as your test subjects? First Aid just called to tell me I have three Mini-Bots, two Aerialbots, and one idiotic twin in the med-bay with congealed Energon blocking their lines!"

"Umm…" Wheeljack turned to Optimus, who was politely throwing his gummy into the growing pile in the center of the table. "Prime, I would like another month before presenting my final findings."

"Perhaps we should move you to another project."

"Oooh! Can I make explosives again?"

Optimus shared a look with his Weapons Specialist, Second-in-Command, and Security Director while Jazz grinned at the excited mech. "I believe the majority of your fellow officers have agreed to lift the ban on explosives."

* * *

Winner Takes All  
Prompt: Fun and Games  
Characters: Autobot and Decepticon Cassettes Ensemble  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 422  
**Summary:** A little friendly competition among the Cassettes.

* * *

Rumble scowled in concentration as he crouched down. He could feel the ground beneath him tremble from the battle raging behind him, but he did well to ignore it. Having spent the majority of the war as a spy had taught him not to react to distractions. One wrong move, and it would be all over…

"For frag's sake—shoot already!"

The red Cassette felt his hand flinch, and his scowl shifted to anger when the shot went wide, laughably missing its intended target. Rumble swung around to glare at his blue twin and snarled, "You—look what you made me do!"

"You were taking too long!" Frenzy retaliated. Ravage shook his head and glanced around the rock they were all huddled behind. Laserbeak twittered from his perch on the feline's shoulder when said cat moved to stand up. "Battle's almost over, and you and nerd-jock over there practically took up the entire game."

Rumble huffed and turned to glare as the marble he had been aiming for went rolling out of circle the Cassettes had made in the dirt at the beginning of the battle. His fists clenched around the large sack of marbles he had managed to acquire through this game, and he nearly activated his pile drivers when Eject skipped over to grab the clear marble with the red swirl that he had been eyeing since this match started.

Rewind began congratulating his brother while Steeljaw gave a big yawn of boredom, and Ramhorn was waddling away. Eject checked his marble before casually dropping it into his mesh bag. Rumble glowered at the lack of care he saw in the other mech's movements. There was no respect in those actions—no respect at all! "That marble's mine next time, Auto-dork!"

Eject hummed, and a wide smirk spread across his face. Frenzy, Ravage, and Laserbeak were already sneaking back towards the dwindling action behind them, missing the taunting glint in the Autobot's visor. The Decepticon's own visor tracked the movement of the bag bouncing up and down in Eject's hand. "Yeah, well one of us is the current all-star and the other's a few games behind. Finals are next week—winner takes all tournament. Better bring your A-game!"

Rumble snarled at the teasing mech and hurried after his fellow Cassettes. He safely stashed his bag of marbles in his subspace before jumping into Soundwave's Cassette deck for the Decepticons' retreat. He was going to get that marble during the next fight. Even if it was the last thing he did!

* * *

I Didn't Do It!  
Prompt: Convenience  
Characters: Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Prowl, Jazz, Bumblebee, Mirage  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 415  
**Summary: **Because no one on the _Ark_ really believes in Sideswipe's innocence.

* * *

"But Prowl! I swear we didn't do it!"

Sunstreaker grunted when his brother scrapped up against him and glared at the streak of pink paint he left behind. Prowl didn't appear to be very swayed by the formerly red twin's pleads as he stared them down. "You admitted to taking the paint from the supply closet and setting it up for a prank."

"Well…yeah! But we didn't set up a paint bomb in the med-bay! I'm not that stupid—you don't prank the Hatchet twice in the same week."

Prowl shook his head and allowed a fuming, now pink Ironhide to drag their two resident troublemakers out of the med-bay for further punishment. He glanced around the room splattered in paint, noting the mechs that had been caught in the blast and those that had ventured to this side of the base when they heard the commotion.

Ratchet stood in the center of the prank zone, frame trembling from repressed anger at having taken the brunt of the paint bomb. Even Prowl took a step back when the medic finally glanced towards the onlookers. "Everyone who isn't on the very brink of offlining get the frag out of my med-bay!"

Needless to say, the room was quickly vacated, and a majority of the crew took the extra precaution of clearing the area altogether. Jazz, who had rushed to the med-bay with Prowl when they had heard the explosion, fell into step with Bumblebee and Mirage as the trio calmly headed towards the rec-room. "It's pretty surprisin' the Twins would be prankin' Ratch' again so soon after the last time. Thought they woulda learned from last time that aint a good idea."

Bumblebee gave his superior a bright smile while Mirage simply stared. "Yeah, kinda weird, but you know Sides. He likes to push his limits every once in a while."

Jazz nodded in agreement, but the suspicion in his optic band didn't fade away. "Hey, 'Raj. Ah thought you was gettin' a maintenance check taday."

"I was. Alas, it would seem that Ratchet may not be in the mood to perform maintenance checks for a while."

A navy optic band flashed between Bumblebee's continued innocent grin and Mirage's now blank golden optics. "What are the odds, huh?"

"Yes."

"Too bad the odds o' it happenin' again are slim. Like, say, another week from now when the officers gotta go through maintenance checks. Shame there."

Mirage's blank expression finally twitched with a smirk, and Bumblebee giggled.


	6. 6: g1

**AN:** All the G1 \^o^/

* * *

Monitor Duty  
Prompt: Game  
Characters: Red Alert, Sideswipe  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 594  
**Summary: **"Blackmail" is the worst word a security specialist can encounter.

* * *

"_So_…"

"Quiet, delinquent!"

Sideswipe's optics flickered in exasperation as he twirled around in his seat. Boredom gnawed at the edge of his processor, but he fought it back by tapping his fingers against the keys of the monitor in front of him. Monitor duty was always boring, but Prowl always managed to somehow make it _worse_ when it served as a punishment.

Probably because he always made the punished perpetrator work directly with Red Alert, the most high-strung, paranoid little glitch Sideswipe knew. At least when he was on regular duty, he'd have someone like Blaster or Bumblebee sitting between him and Red. Now there was no one there to serve as a buffer for when the Security Director leaned over and slapped his tapping fingers away. "No playing games. This is _punishment_."

Sideswipe snorted and exited out of the game his fingers had unconsciously pulled up for him. It wasn't his fault that was his usual routine when on monitor duty. "This is so _boring_."

"Stop whining and act like a big 'bot." Red Alert leaned in closer to one of his numerous monitors, and Sideswipe spun around in his chair again with an agonized groan. "You wouldn't be in this situation if you could control your hooligan urges."

Sideswipe snorted once more at the Security Director's choice of words. In his defense, the "prank" he was being punished for now hadn't even been his idea. He just hadn't protested when his brother came to him, demanding retaliation in the form of replacing Track's wax with the glow-in-the-dark putty he had "lying around" after the snobby mech had insulted his paintjob in front of everyone.

Sunstreaker had been very pleased with the results.

The red front-liner finally sighed, finishing one more spin in his chair. To alleviate his boredom, he made a show of stretching his stiff joints, fully ignoring Red Alert's pointed glare in his direction. It wasn't until he was hanging upside down on the arm of his chair that Sideswipe caught a glance of his companion's private monitor. The front-liner instantly popped back up and allowed a devilish grin to spawn. "Oh, _Red_."

"What now?"

"Wha'cha doin' over there?"

To his credit, Red Alert didn't so much as flinch at the knowing tone Sideswipe's voice carried. He leveled an "officer's glare" on the other Autobot and clicked a key on his keyboard. "My _work_."

"It don't look like it." Sideswipe's grin expanded when Red Alert finally shifted. The front-liner leaned closer and found it amusing when Red Alert attempted to hide the game he had caught the mech playing. "Is that…so _you're_ the one who's been winning all of Smokescreen's credits!"

"This doesn't leave this room!" Red Alert hissed, blue sparks flying from one of the horns on his helm to another. "Do you hear me, Sideswipe?"

"What?" Sideswipe dramatically tipped his head to the side, cupping his audial with one hand. "I think I just heard Section 12, Subsection 4, Paragraph 5 of the Autobot Code."

"How do you—"

"Hey, a troublemaker's gotta know the rules in order to skirt around them." Sideswipe's indigo optics brightened at Red Alert's defeated sigh. "_So_…"

After an aggressive glare that didn't faze Sideswipe in the least, Red Alert reluctantly pressed a key in front of him. Sideswipe's monitor flickered from the dull communication logs to the title screen of the game he always played. The officer overseeing his punishment scowled for the rest of the time they were together, but Sideswipe didn't mind as he totally crushed Bumblebee's previous high score.

* * *

Twenty Credits  
Prompt: Practice  
Characters: Sunstreaker  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 100  
**Summary: **The Starving Artist.

* * *

Sunstreaker scowled at the mech in front of him and tried not to take the close scrutiny of his finest work to spark. "What's it worth?"

"This? About twenty cred." The mech took a step back when he finally noticed Sunstreaker's scowl. "Look, that's just how the market works! Anything without a famous name attached to it will go nowhere."

The mech paused. "Keep practicing, and maybe a wealthy mech will be interested someday. 'Til then, I'll give you twenty."

Sunstreaker swallowed his pride and nodded. Twenty credits—that would get him and Sideswipe a cube of Energon for tonight.

* * *

Engineering Optimism  
Prompt: Lucky Break  
Characters: Wheeljack, Sunstreaker  
Universe: G1  
Word Count:486  
**Summary:** Wheeljack has the tendency to look on the bright side of things.

* * *

"Well, at least we're not—"

"Don't say it." Sunstreaker glared when he saw Wheeljack's vocal fins innocently flash in the dark, cramped space they were trapped in. "There's only two steps separating us, and I won't feel guilty for knocking you out."

Wheeljack's fins briefly illuminated the space with a pink light before Sunstreaker turned away. Really—as if the day couldn't get any worse. First he had to deal with angry little Mini-Bots because his brother was a moron, then he had to sit in the brig because his brother was a moron, then he had to repaint all the scuffs that came from the angry munchkins and sitting in the brig because his brother was a moron, and finally he was sitting in a cramped hole…because his brother was a moron

Sunstreaker was beginning to sense a very prominent pattern in his life.

"Ya know, we coulda—"

"_Wheeljack_. Nothing you say can make this better."

"Just hear me out!" Wheeljack seemed surprised when Sunstreaker turned back around, the fins that decorated both of their helms nearly clashing in the tiny space. "Uh…"

"_What_?"

"We could have fallen into an active volcano." The space was illuminated once more with a bright blue flash, allowing Sunstreaker to perfectly see his current companion. "Or we could've been eaten by a giant fish. Ya know, like in that story that Jazz—"

"I know what you're talking about." Sunstreaker stared in the direction Wheeljack sat. He waited a moment for the engineer to light the area again before growing impatient. "Is that seriously all you're going to say about this?"

"Hm? Oh, no! That device could've created a black hole that sucked us up into another dimension where we're only about five inches tall. Or we coulda been zapped to a planet inhabited by natives that would've forced us into a game of life and death for their own entertainment." Wheeljack paused. "_Or_—"

"You can't seriously think any of _that _would happen from your explosions."

"Maybe. Maybe not." Wheeljack waved a hand before realizing that their current location wouldn't allow the movement without hitting Sunstreaker in the face. "Sorry. But it doesn't matter if that could possibly happen or not. The point is that it _didn't_, and we could've been in a much direr situation than just stuck in a tiny hole twenty feet from the surface where I know the others are already beginning to dig us out. In the grand scheme of things, we're pretty lucky to be here."

The space went black and quiet for a moment before lighting up again, Wheeljack's vocal fins painting the dark rock a happy yellow as he began to hum. Sunstreaker huffed and slouched as much as he could in the tiny space. However, he slowly began to relax as time passed.

At least his brother was being a moron for someone else right now.


	7. 7: Prime and Rescue Bots

**AN: **A healthy dose of _Prime_ and _Rescue Bots_ ^_^

* * *

Beep Bop Boop  
Prompt: Alliteration  
Characters: Bumblebee, Rafael, Ratchet, Jack, Miko, Optimus, Bulkhead, Arcee  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 452  
**Summary: **Miko brushes up on her beeping skills.

* * *

"Bweep bop buzz."

"That's cool, Bee."

"Beep beep boop."

"A whole group of them?"

"Bzzz! Bop beep beep beep bweb buzz. Boop bop bzzzzzzz!"

"Bumblebee!"

The young yellow warrior's blue optics cycled through settings, and he snapped to attention to stare at the medic glaring at him. Ratchet pointed down at the human computer genius that watched Bumblebee with awe and amusement. "Watch your language around the children."

"Bzzzzz."

Ratchet harrumphed at Bumblebee's apparent apology, and he turned back to the base's main computer. Bumblebee and Rafael immediately went back to their conversation, Rafael typing away at his computer and occasionally looking up to watch Bumblebee pantomime the battle he enthusiastically beeped about. Not far from them sat two other teenagers, one appearing to be more interested in the video game in front of him while the other stared over at the mech and boy duo with undisguised curiosity.

"Language?" Miko whispered to Jack where they were sitting on the couch. "All I hear is a bunch of beeps and buzzes."

"Boop boop."

"And that."

Jack shrugged, fingers flying over the buttons of his game controller. "I don't know. Maybe the right combination of sounds is a curse by their standards."

Miko looked thoughtful for a moment before throwing her controller down and twisting around on the couch to face Bumblebee and Rafael. "Hey, 'Bee! Beep bop boop!"

Rafael's mouth fell open, and Bumblebee physically flinched back, optics spiraling in shock. Even Ratchet temporarily abandoned in his work to stare at the tiny teenager. "_Miko_!"

"Bweep bweep buzz!"

Bumblebee's hand flew up to cover the lower half of his face with a choked buzz, and Rafael almost dropped his laptop. Ratchet shook off his shock and walked over to where Jack and Miko were sitting. "Now, you listen here young lady—"

"Boop blop!"

"Miko."

Miko's mischievous grin suddenly fell, and she turned with the others to see Optimus walking into the room with Arcee and Bulkhead in tow. Arcee quirked a metallic brow while Bulkhead possessed a scandalized look. Optimus remained as poker face as ever. "You would do well to watch your words."

The young girl bowed her head in acknowledgement, and everyone in the room went back to what they had been doing before with the added presence of the three new arrivals. When she was sure no one was watching, she nudged her elbow into Jack's side to get his attention. "How do you think the 'Cons would act if I said that to them?"

"You don't even _know_ what you said."

"So? Did you see everyone's reaction? I just threw down some major shade."

Jack rolled his eyes and tossed the second game controller back to Miko.

* * *

Solace  
A Transformers Flash Fic  
Prompt: Looking Back  
Characters: Soundwave  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 433  
**Summary:** Soundwave is a good daddy.

* * *

Soundwave could remember a time when he would be bombarded with emotions. From all directions, they would mute his calm demeanor: anticipation, anger, enthusiasm, disinterest, curiosity.

He felt nothing now.

Sometimes, he would call up old video files of little frames running around his feet, lacking any concern for being stepped on as they fought with one another for playful dominance and snapping out a snide remark, or even tinier frames that would flutter around his head and land on his shoulders, huddling down against him in subtle affection.

He looked down and only saw the bleak, black floor beneath his feet.

Sometimes he would lie on his berth, recalling the feel of warm frames huddling against him in a rare moment of weakness. He could almost feel the two bipedal mechs who would, even in their sleep, kick and punch each other in their brotherly way. A pair of wings would flutter against his helm as the tiniest sighed in recharge while two more pairs of wings would lie against his chest. He would feel the final frame curl around his feet later in the off-cycle, having returned from the espionage mission that Megatron had ordered him on.

His form felt abnormally cold now.

After a while there had only been one frame that had remained, clinging to his chest at all times until his talents were needed. Sometimes Soundwave felt the urge to hold the little winged frame tight, refusing to let him go again. To keep his final symbiot from sharing the same fate his brothers had during the procession of an unending war.

Soundwave would always force himself to let go.

And as lonely and cold as it was now, he was glad that he had let go. While he may have been resigned to his fate in this shadow verse—a mockery of the one he now longed to be a part of once more—he allowed a sort of peace to wash over him at the reminder that his final symbiot had escaped this awful fate. Laserbeak had fluttered around him for a while, sensing his presence through the weak symbiotic bond that was still present, but eventually Soundwave had convinced the upset avian to leave. To find the remaining mech that knew how to take care of symbiotic frames even though that mech had been an Autobot.

Blaster had succeeded where he had not, keeping all of his symbiotes alive and cared for, and Soundwave silently watched as Laserbeak slowly acclimated to his new life.

At least he would be able to remember Laserbeak being happy.

* * *

Talk Like a Pirate  
Prompt: Pirate  
Characters: Heatwave, Blades, Boulder  
Universe: Rescue Bots  
Word Count: 499  
**Summary:** Pirates and Rescue Bots don't mix very well.

* * *

"Arr, you scurvy dogs!"

Heatwave groaned and contemplated on whether to walk back out of the bunker or push forward. Unfortunately, he wasn't really allowed a choice because his copter companion spotted him. Leaving behind an amused Boulder, Blades sauntered over to him, lifting a hand to right the ridiculous pirate's hat that Cody must have given him while Heatwave was out. The copter's partner certainly wouldn't have bought the ridiculous feathered cap.

"Ahoy matey!" Heatwave wanted to slap his face like he had seen the humans do in cartoons. Blades didn't seem to notice his exasperated sigh as he enthusiastically flung an arm over his team leader's shoulder. "Ye've returned."

"You're not seriously doing this again."

"Arr, I not be knowing what you're talking about, matey."

Heatwave grunted at the chuckle that came from Boulder. "You're not a pirate, Blades."

"Avast!"

"And you're not out on a boat."

"It not be the ship that make a pirate!"

"I thought that was the point of being a pirate."

This caused Blades to pause long enough for Heatwave to slip out from under him. However, it didn't take long for Blades to jump back into his role and follow Heatwave to the other side of the room. "Aye, that be true. But a spirit of a pirate will not be stifled by technicalities!"

Heatwave thought that Boulder was getting far too much amusement from this situation. He flopped down into one of the large beanbag chairs Cody had bought for them, and Blades flopped down beside him, the blades on his back shifting around to avoid being bent. "Go on, Blades. I'm not in the mood right now."

The red Rescue Bot expected his teammate to spit some other pirate saying, but he was surprised to see Blades take off his hat, an expression of concern dominating his features. "You okay? What happened?"

Heatwave briefly thought of not answering before sighing. "Kade was too busy trying to impress that girl again. Nearly got himself killed rushing into a burning building." He paused. "Plus he tangled my hose, and I couldn't fix it."

"That sucks. Here let me help." Heatwave shifted around to give Blades access to his retractable hose. "Wow. That's worse than when my hook gets tangled. You shouldn't be putting yourself through that discomfort."

Heatwave finally sighed as Blades finished. The knot of discomfort that had been plaguing him during the long drive back to the station was gone, and he automatically felt a hundred times better. "Thanks, Blades."

"You're welcome! Now, shiver me timbers, there be another landlubbing scallywag."

Heatwave shook his head as Blades scurried off to greet a very confused Chase and laughing Chief Burns. While Chase found some rule to cite against Blades' "pirating ways," Heatwave turned back to Boulder, who was now humming as he painted a large canvas. "I thought pirates were supposed to be mean."

"Do _you_ want to be the one who tells Blades he can't be a good pirate?"


	8. 8: Pint Sized Verse

**AN: **All of these ficlets take place in _A New Version of Reality _with the exception of the last ;D

* * *

Bubble  
Prompt: No Dialogue  
Characters: Jazz, Skywarp, Victoria, "the sparkling crew"  
Universe: ANVoR  
Word Count: 215

* * *

The iridescent orb flashed with swirls of tiny rainbows reflecting from its surface. It drifted through the air, bouncing along as it traveled the light air currents in the room. It was not left to travel alone for long. Suddenly a whole line of little orbs fluttered up to join it, ranging in all sizes from little to "huge," and tiny hands reached high to grasp them as they floated away.

Jazz simply grinned from where he leaned against the wall with Skywarp as the first bubble finally made its way to the end of its journey, landing on the very tip of an amazed Snarl's nose. Little Recall pointed at the bubble with his usual enthusiasm, and all the sparklings stared in silent wonder at the balancing sphere before it suddenly popped out of existence. Squeals ruptured from the group of tinier sparklings as they all turned back to the woman refilling the bubble making machine with the bowl of bubbles Topaz attempted to splash her hands in. Even the stubborn "older" sparklings like Star and Grimlock seemed eager for the next wave to fly out.

The saboteur did not say a word as the fun began all over again, with the bitlets attempting to make the fragile bubbles land on their own noses.

* * *

Exclusive Access  
Prompt: Permission  
Characters: Recall, Star  
Universe: ANVoR  
Word Count: 392

* * *

"No!"

Recall chirped in confusion as the little plastic door was slammed in his face. He looked around to see Rum' and Frenz' trying to break apart Grimmy and Snarl after the two brothers began roughhousing. Toshi was silently sitting off in a corner watching cartoons and would not be any fun until they went off. Recall did not possess the patience to wait for the smaller sparkling and tuned back to knock on the door. "Starry? Come in?"

"Go away Recall!"

The mechling tilted his head, his bright blue optics shining in confusion while his springy "curls" bounced to the side. He did not understand why Starry was being so mean! He just wanted to play with him; they never got to play anymore because the bigger Starry always took him away.

Recall reached out and pushed the door open a crack before it was abruptly slammed shut again. The sparkling squawked and stumbled backwards when the door smacked against his face. His optics winked in stunned confusion while Starry shouted from within the house. "You can't come in unless I say you can! So, go away."

The younger sparkling's systems stuttered before heating up. Quiet and quick intakes of air caused the mechling to sputter little beeps, and liquid began to pool beneath his optics. Before any of the diluted Energon could slip down his cheeks, the door flung open, and the bigger Seekerlet came out to crouch in front of the Pretender.

Recall stubbornly wiped away his tears, remembering what happened the last time the Seekerlet had seen him crying. One, single tear managed to escape from where it suspended on the very edge of his crystalline optics, and the mechling sniffled when he reached up to the older mechling. "Play now?"

Star huffed but picked up the mechling without a word. Recall chirped with sudden joy and clung to the Seekerlet's neck as he was carried back into the playhouse. Recall happily twittered when he spotted sissy, Swoop, and Birdie playing in the corner of the house, and the bigger sparkling put him down so that he could join them. Star huffed again and kicked the door shut, growling when it did not slam with the right amount of force.

"What's the point of having a super, secret club if nobody gets in with the super, secret password?"

* * *

Learning to Function  
Prompt: Something New  
Characters: Mirage, Victoria  
Universe: Pint Sized Series  
Word Count: 497

* * *

"Now, simply concentrate on your display." Mirage paused, waiting for a response. When the femme sitting in front of him merely shifted in her seat, the former noble sighed. "Do you still have the message pulled up on your HUD?"

"They never disappear, Mirage." Mirage didn't flinch at the caustic bite in the femme's voice, and she sighed, optic band dimming in response to the emotional change from aggressive to remorseful. The mech silently wondered if she even realized the shift had been visible. "I'm sorry, Mirage. I just…I'm getting so frustrated with this! You guys probably do this without any thought, and I can't even get rid of the flashing numbers that tell the time."

"Yes, but this is something we learn moments after coming online. It's not surprising that you're having a hard time." Mirage sighed when the femme's pliable silver face curled into a nasty scowl. "You are not going to get this the first time, Victoria, and there are just some things that you may never understand. In body you may be Cybertronian, but in _mind_ you are still a human. Humans do not have anything equivalent to a heads-up display wired into their vision."

"Can't I just download some…program or something that would handle this for me?"

"Perhaps, and while we're at it, we'll just delete everything containing your human life and completely reboot your processor." Mirage saw the flicker of terror that flashed across Victoria's optic band before her face shifted to match it. "If you would like to cheat with this, we might as well just save the hassle of doing it again later. Because this won't get any easier. You _have_ to learn how the basics before we can move on to other, more complicated matters."

Victoria vented in frustration and dropped her head into her hands. She immediately popped back up when her hands bumped against her visor, and Mirage tilted his head when she annoying rubbed the thick strip of tinted glass. The action must have somehow prompted more messages to pop up on her HUD. If that was the truth, then there was certainly more work to be done than he realized, and Mirage didn't know if he would be able to teach the once human woman as well as he had previously thought. It was the first time he had ever had to teach another Cybertronian how to do what came naturally.

"Let us try once more…"

Mirage trailed off at the sound of a small ping from the door, and he allowed Victoria to answer it, a small smile of pride flickering across his face when she only stumbled once. Victoria may not have been able to fully grasp the new internal functions of her frame, but she was certainly making progress when it came to finding her balance.

Now it was much more amusing when the femme tripped and fell against the legs of a very surprised Skyfire when the door swished open.

* * *

**AN:** That's the majority of the flash fics I have at the moment. Next up will be some of the little fics I wrote for Halloween :)


	9. Halloween Set 1

**AN: **During the month of October, I attempted a 31 Days of Halloween challenge over on Tumblr. I didn't write on every prompt, but here are a few of the fics I wrote during the challenge. (There was also one I wrote for _Rebirth_, but because I've already uploaded it in that story, I won't be reposting it again.)

Halloween 1/3 Sets

* * *

Day 2: Crow  
Universe: G1  
Characters: Skywarp, Thundercracker

* * *

Skywarp sighed…or kind of sighed. He found it difficult to perform such a human act when he was currently sitting in his alt-mode. But such was his current predicament.

Curse Starscream for "volunteering" him for scouting! He didn't want to sit here, at the edge of this military airfield with this bland grey paint slapped on him in "disguise". Just to watch these stupid humans deal with this super-secret, Megatron attracting form of energy. Or was it a weapon? Whatever—Skywarp didn't really pay attention to little details like that.

Where had Thundercracker flown off to? That jerk had promised to come back when he had their well-deserved rations. Skywarp twitched on his wheels. He wondered what would happen if he activated his warp generator the next time a human came along to inspect him…

The disguised Decepticon flinched at a loud, unusual cry, and he almost stuttered when a tiny organic landed on the tip of his nose cone. The sleek black feathers on its tiny body practically gleamed in the sunlight, and the tiny head tilted towards the orange dome of his cockpit.

Skywarp froze, fighting the urge to break cover and knock the bird away. Those beady black eyes and the sharp gleam they possessed stared straight through him, and he had the uncomfortable sensation that this animal _knew_ he wasn't some ordinary machine.

…so Skywarp expanded his EM field to give the nasty creature a shock it wouldn't forget. He snickered when the bird released a startled cry, and his form trembled when it lost its footing and fell to the ground. "Scram, ya winged rodent."

Skywarp ignored the indignant cry he received and felt absolutely no remorse to see the bird wobble through the air when it was finally able to take off. He actually snickered a little more when the black bird was unable to fly in a straight line before settling once more into the boredom he had been submitted to.

It was only a few minutes later that Skywarp felt the first rock. It pinged off his tinted cockpit, and he sat in confusion as it slid over his form to land on the ground. Then another fell from the sky, rattling down the edge of his wing, then another. Skywarp yelped as the pelting rocks fell in a steady stream and tensed when the loud, mocking cries of the bird from earlier echoed through the airfield.

By the time his alt-mode had accumulated enough tiny dents to become noticeable, scraping away small patches of the cheap paint that had been applied to him, Skywarp was on the very edge of transforming and blasting all the black birds circling above him from the sky.

Of course, the birds had to then land on every available surface…on _him_. He trembled in response to the talons that scraped against his wings, gripped his tailfins, screeched down his sleek cockpit as they searched for something to grip.

The final bird landed on his nosecone, fluffing its ebony wings. It stared straight at him, and Skywarp felt his plating heat up. The bird cawed, sparking the other dozen birds on him to mimic the cry. Skywarp swore they began to do a little tribal dance, and the only thing that kept him from taking off was the sudden reappearance of the partner that had abandoned him.

Thundercracker rolled up to sit beside him, and the birds simultaneously turned to stare at the blue-grey jet. Skywarp waited, and his trine mate didn't disappoint. "Skywarp…I see you made some friends while I was gone."

"Shut up."

"Told you some of the organics on this rock were actually smart."

"I said shut up!"

* * *

Day 7: Stars  
Universe: A New Version of Reality  
Notes: Takes place during time skip in chapter 1 of ANVoR  
Characters: Victoria, Bluestreak

* * *

A cool, crisp wind flowed through the empty field, and the sparse leaves that still clung to the spindly branches of the trees fluttered in its wake, reaching out in an attempt to join their brethren blanketing the ground below. The faint light from the full moon cast shadows across the field as insects filled the small area with a calming song from the brush enclosing the open area.

The natural calm of the forest was broken by the loud crunch of broken limbs. Artificial light filtered through the trees, and voices soon began to overpower the chirping chorus. "I know it was around here somewhere…oh! Here we go."

The bushes surrounding the area parted, and a young girl stumbled through them. She shook her entire body, dislodging a leaf that had become stuck in her short, black hair and the tiny branches that had snagged on her baggy sweater, and turned to address the loud footsteps that quickly followed. "It's cold."

"Yeah, I probably should have thought of that. But this is the best place to see!" The girl stepped aside when a large, metallic foot landed beside her. The blinding light that flooded the field dimmed, and the human child looked up at the silver and dark grey metal giant with a small frown. "It looks a little difference since the last time I was here, but I guess that's because of the seasons changing. Sometimes I forget that Earth's weather actually changes like that."

"You've been on Earth for over ten years and you still forget?" A sudden gush of wind bombarded the pair, and the pre-teen wrapped her arms around herself. "You just _had_ to choose the first night the temperature fell below seventy degrees, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry, Vi." A pair of doors fluttered on the mechanical giant's shoulders. "I thought your sweater would be enough to keep you warm. That _is_ why you wore it."

"Yeah, but if I'd known that we'd be coming out to the middle of nowhere and I wasn't going to be sitting snug in your heater, I would have worn something a little thicker." Vi—or better known as Victoria—untangled herself long enough to stretch out the thin fabric of the flannel pants she wore. "Plus, I wouldn't have come out in my pajama pants. You do know that sleep overs and camping are two completely different things, right?"

"Of course! But the stars aren't nearly as clear back at the house…and Wheeljack was doing something with the chemicals he snuck out of his class. Last time that happened, we got a huge hole in the floor that went straight through the house's foundation. It reminded me of this one time back in Iacon—"

Victoria shook her head at how her companion easily shifted to an entirely new topic, but his short attention made her smile. Over the past few years, she had come to learn that a Cybertronian's designation often reflected their personality or skills. Her friend was no different, and "Bluestreak" certainly captured his most prominent trait.

While Bluestreak went on to explain one of Wheeljack's infinite number of hazardous exploits, Victoria tilted her head back to examine the clear night sky. Her dark grey eyes minutely widened, and her mouth partly opened at the sight of the twinkling dots above them. There was rarely a time when they ever appeared so clear or close—and so numerous! Where was this amazing display back in the suburbs?

"—and Prowl never again let Wheeljack hold his acid pellets." Bluestreak firmly nodded at the conclusion of his tale before tilting his head to see Victoria. He chuckled at the gaping expression he found on the pre-teen's face, and his chuckles grew louder when she jumped at the sound of him collapsing onto the ground. The mech attempted to use a small patch of the trees surrounding them as a backrest before simply propping himself up with his arm. "I was pretty sure you'd like this. You always seemed really interested when me and Wheeljack talk about Cybertron."

Victoria vigorously shook her head and moved to climb up on to the top of Bluestreak's foot. She slipped once on the smooth metal, and a large hand reached out to gently lift her up. "I can't help it. Who else has a chance to grow up with two—three if you count turd my brother's attached himself to—giant aliens from another planet? I'm stuck with you, so I might as well make the best of it."

The young girl smiled at the laugh her statement inspired and turned to stare up at the sky once more. Bluestreak did the same after dimming the headlights embedded his chest armor and waited for the main reason he had chosen to bring his human companion all the way out into the unpopulated area.

The gasp he heard when the first streak of light cut through the dark sky had his grin returning full force, and he unconsciously mimicked the way Victoria leaned further back to catch the perfect angle of the meteor shower. "You know, back on Cybertron meteor showers were a pretty common thing. I used to watch them all the time when I could, and I remember the first time—"

Victoria leaned further back to rest against Bluestreak's leg, muscles relaxing at the familiar drone of the mech's voice and the streaks of light that danced across the sky.

* * *

Day 8: Black Cat  
Universe: G1  
Characters: Ravage, Stunticons

* * *

There was one, well-known fact around the Decepticon base—the Stunticons, while being very brutal, were a very impressionable set of mechs. Motormaster could be convinced to do anything if he thought Megatron would perform the same action; a few flattering words would have Drag Strip thinking anything (good or not) was his idea; Dead End would simply shrug and comment about dying; Wildrider had enough screws loose to go along with anything; and once paranoid Breakdown was forced out of the corner he hid in, he would do anything to get back into it.

Knowing all of this, Ravage didn't think twice of them as he prowled through the _Victory_'s rec-room. The feline Cassette rarely had a moment to himself, and he wasn't about to waste it on attempting to figure out what Drag Strip and Wildrider were fervently whispering about, or why Breakdown was actually sitting in the middle of the rec-room with his team. Motormaster only got a second glance because Ravage knew the large mech had a tendency to try to step on the little Cassettes that roamed the base, but as soon as the feline was out of reach, the Stunticon's leader was of no interest.

Ravage yawned, uncaring for the way Breakdown flinched back as he passed or Dead End's droning tone insisting that they were all going to die at some point anyway. A giggle from Wildrider caused an ear to flick, but only because the sound was unfamiliar. Decepticons did not_giggle_.

"Hey, pussycat!" Rumble snickered at the snarl that answered him while Frenzy gulped down a cube of Energon that was larger than both of them. Laserbeak twittered and danced to the side to make space for Ravage in their secluded booth. "Boss was saying we actually gotta day off today. We're thinking about going topside and roughing up a few of the meatbags before he locks us up again. Wanna join?"

The feline tilted its head from across the table, flexible ears twitching once more as they picked up the subtle nuances of giggles above the rest of the ruckus the rec-room was known for. After a moment, Ravage finally shook his head and pawed the cube Laserbeak had offered. Rumble shrugged while Frenzy teased Laserbeak with a laser pointer he had "found". "Suit yourself, pussycat. Don't be getting all jealous when you're stuck down here doing nothing."

Ravage yawned as a sign of his lack of concern and trained his ruby optics on Frenzy attempting to escape a good pecking. The spy's ears continued to flick in time with the giggles coming from Wildrider across the room.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that Ravage began to regret his decision of ignoring the Stunticons and their oddly familiar ways. As he usually did on his own time, Ravage prowled down the long, violet hallways of the _Victory_, searching for gossip—otherwise known as juicy blackmail—to relate back to Soundwave.

Unfortunately, there was a severe lack of fellow Decepticons to actually eavesdrop on, and Ravage was beginning to get a little twitchy. The few mechs he had come across during his earlier prowls had been the Stunticons, who had strangely refused to come anywhere near him. Normally, he had to _at least _fend off Wildrider, who had the strange notion that Soundwave's animal Cassettes were pets. But no—all of the members of the youngest gestalt had gone to extreme pains to avoid his path.

Perhaps he should have taken Rumble up on his earlier offer…

The Cassette instantly froze. With ears flattened against his head and ruby optics scouring what appeared to be an empty hallway, Ravage sunk to the floor, his belly nearly scraping against the ground as he slithered into the familiar shadows near him. He silently crept further down the hallway, and the quiet noise that had caught his attention before prompted him to emit a silent growl.

Ravage stayed completely still as Wildrider turned the corner in front of him. The black Stunticon froze as well before suddenly turning and dashing back in the direction he had come. After a brief internal debate, Ravage slunk down the hallway to follow. He could still hear the strange mech giggling, and he forced his cautious pace to go a little faster.

As they traveled further into the base, Ravage's dormant sense of curiosity began to rise. While it wasn't often that the feline allowed the emotion to overcome his usual job-oriented focus and attentiveness, Ravage was beginning to grow tired of the gestalt's strange behavior. They were up to something, and he knew that his Cassette deck and Megatron would want to know whether it was detrimental to the cause.

He paused at the entrance of the storage room he had followed Wildrider to, allowing his intake systems to catalogue the various scents that wafted through the door. The feline snorted at the overwhelming smell of the cheap waxes Drag Strip and Wildrider preferred and adopted a little more caution when stepping through the doorway.

Of course, Ravage was soon reminded of _why_ he usually kept his intense curiosity locked away.

"Now!"

A yowl echoed through the _Victory_ as Ravage was blinded by a liquid that fell from above. He pawed at his optics, slipping when what had fallen on him coated the floor, until he was able to see through a thin layer of purple. He snarled when three forms stepped out from behind the storage containers they were hidden behind. Ravage nearly gave in to the urge to pounce on one of them and gauge their optics out when Drag Strip appeared from behind the box beside him, widely grinning as he held the dripping barrel of paint he had dumped on the Cassette.

"I _told_ you it would work! Now who's the smartest in the gestalt?"

Dead End sighed. "You are, Drag Strip."

"That's right, and nobody forget about it." Wildrider giggled when Ravage slipped in the blue paint pooling on the floor. Breakdown's optics gained a new level of brightness as the feline viciously snarled at them. "We can tell Motormaster the whole thing was a success, thanks to_my_ genius thinking, and he'll be sure to tell Megatron. Our luck's gonna be turning around real quick now that everyone's not getting bad luck from a black cat crossing their path."

Ravage shook his head, splattering drops of blue paint, and stalked out of the storage room without another glance at the young gestalt.

* * *

"Hey, pussycat, why you looking so…_blue_?"

Ravage's snarl was only contained by the soothing strokes along his back. That didn't keep him from snapping at Rumble when the younger Cassette climbed up on the berth to sit beside him, and the little troublemaker was lucky that their master was taking care of the awful paintjob because Ravage was in one his rare foul moods now. The firm hand not only scrubbed away the paint, it kept the feline in place.

"Rumble: teasing ill-advised." Soundwave's voice modulator created an instant calming effect, and Ravage's tense cables loosened. He still reached out to swat Frenzy when the other twin attempted to touch him, though. "Ravage currently in unstable state."

"Awe, he can't be that upset." Ravage stared through optics that thankfully no longer possessed the purple tint from the blue paint. Even if he had still been blinded, he would have been able to see straight through the fake smile on Rumble's face. "At least it's a shade of blue that matches your optics."

Soundwave sighed as he grabbed his normally calm Cassette to keep him from mauling the others. He would need to pay closer attention to the Stunticons the next time they accessed the internet to research human superstitions...

…because he wasn't about to have another confrontation with Motormaster about being a witch.


	10. Halloween Set 2

**AN: **Halloween 2/3 Sets

* * *

Day 12: Bones  
Universe: MTMTE  
Characters: Scavengers, Grimlock

* * *

Krok liked to believe that he was a reasonable mech.

After all, he hadn't protested after waking up from the D.J.D.'s attack and finding the Scavengers' new, giant Dinobot "pet" galloping down the halls of the _W.A.P._ He had merely sighed when he caught Misfire giving the damaged Autobot belly rubs when Grimlock was in his alt-mode and stared when he caught Spinster with the top half of his frame in the Dinobot's mouth, marveling at how sharp his teeth were.

But he was starting to think that this might be going a little too far.

"Misfire—"

"Hi, Krok!" Misfire waved from the contraption that his fellow Scavengers (plus Dinobot) were crowded around. "We were wondering when you'd get back."

Krok stared as Crankcase, who was sitting next to Misfire, turned to smack Grimlock in the side, but the transformed Dinobot simply wagged his tail, his glowing blue optics solely focused on the object Fulcrum and Spinster loaded into the bucket of their shoddy contraption.

The strategist had a feeling that most of the things the group may have scavenged on this trip had gone in to that mechanism. "What…are you doing?"

"I'm holding down the catapult for them to load."

"I can see that. _Why_?"

"So we can launch the bone we're using." Misfire paused. "Duh."

Fulcrum yelped as Spinster let go of his end of the large bone they had somehow found on the organic planet and began to struggle under the weight of it. Sparks flickered from Crankcase's injured head when he grunted and finally stopped his attempts to keep Grimlock from sniffing the bone.

"Where did you even find that thing?" Krok gestured towards the catapult, ignoring Fulcrum's stutters for help. "How did you _make_ this?"

"Crankcase did it. The catapult, not the bone."

The leader turned to stare at Crankcase, who simply stared back. "You could build _this_, but I had to travel an entire _day_ to the only Neutral colony on this planet to purchase one tiny part before you could even touch the ship's engines?"

"Meh."

"Stop sniffing me!" Grimlock growled when Spinster punched the tip of his snout, and the masked mech jumped out of the bucket where Fulcrum began to frantically struggle to free his leg. "Launch!"

"Launching!"

"No, wai—"

Krok followed the arching path the catapult took the moment Misfire and Crankcase released it. Fulcrum's shouts became softer as he flew across the vast field with the bone—managing to make it over the hull of the _W.A.P.—_and they became almost inaudible when Grimlock's giant feet pounded against the ground as he galloped after both of them.

Misfire grinned as he watched Fulcrum and the bone land a few yards away while Spinster attempted to figure out what had happened to the K-Class mech, and Crankcase began taking apart the catapult. Krok could only shake his head when Grimlock snatched up the bone and left Fulcrum lying in a contorted heap.

Krok was a reasonable mech; he knew full well that anything he said to his crackpot team of Decepticons would go in one audial and right out the other. So, he just allowed them to do their own thing.

* * *

Days 17, 18, and 19: Insects, Cauldron, and Eyeballs  
Universe: Rescue Bots  
Characters: Chase, Chief Burns, Heatwave, Blades, Boulder

* * *

"Sir, may I ask a question?"

Chief Charlie Burns paused, coffee cup halfway under his burly moustache, and slightly turned to the screen in the center of the dashboard. The face of his Rescue Bot partner was displayed there, with an expression of what the chief had come to know as "curiosity"—brighter yellow optics, a smaller frown, the slight tilt of a head. Chase's curiosity was never as obvious as some of the others, but Charlie had come to pick up the subtle motions. "Of course. You can always ask me anything."

"Why are you consuming a replica of a human optic?" Charlie blinked and looked down at the donut he had picked up with his coffee. The pastry oozed strawberry jelly from the first bite he had taken, smearing the white, red, and black icing that had been used to decorate it. "I was under the impression that the consumption of human organs was frowned upon in most societies."

"Oh! The people that run the bakery always like to get into the Halloween spirit."

"And what does this 'Halloween spirit' have to do with the consumption of human organs?"

"Umm…well…" Chief Burns scratched the back of his head. "Halloween is a human holiday that a lot of people enjoy celebrating, and most of them spend the majority of this month preparing for it—getting into the Halloween spirit—by decorating things to match the 'scary' theme of the holiday."

Charlie sipped his coffee as Chase contemplated this simple explanation. "'Scary?'"

"Or grotesque. You've seen the movies that Blades watches. The ones that make him more jumpy than usual? Everything you see in those movies is really popular now. Or I should say, more popular than usual."

Chase released an acknowledging hum before immediately directing his attention towards the vehicle that sped past their parked position. He sighed at their interrupted break and buckled up as Chase started his sirens. "Guess our coffee break is over."

"Crime does not wait for coffee."

Charlie chuckled and focused on the quick pursuit.

* * *

"Heatwave?"

Heatwave sighed and attempted to ignore the hesitant whisper. Now was the only time he had a chance to recharge after what he had accepted as a "normal" day in Griffin Rock. Before coming to Earth, he would have laughed if someone had told him that tiny little organic creatures could cause more trouble than an average sized Cybertronian. He wasn't laughing that much now.

"Heatwave?" The fire truck grunted in response to the nudge he felt against his back. A gush of air washed over his head, and Heatwave grimaced at how close the whispering mech was now. "Heatwave, I know you're awake. You never twitch when you're actually in stasis."

"What do you want, Blades?"

"There's something wrong with Chase!" Blades jumped back to allow his team leader to sit up. The helicopter pointed towards the main area of the rescue station's bunker. "I think he might be sick. What do we do? Should we call Optimus and ask if he can send his medic to help?"

Heatwave sidled past Blades and stepped out of the room they used to recharge in. He paused the moment he had cleared the doorway, and Blades took that opportunity to peek over his shoulder. "See? I told you something was wrong. Maybe he's actually been replaced by aliens…you know, aliens that aren't humans."

The red Rescue Bot shook his head and continued to stare at Chase, who stood in the middle of the room with Boulder. The police bot noticed their arrival and carried over the heavy, black container held. Heatwave stared at the contents of it before looking back up. "What're you doing, Chase?"

"I am simply exploring my 'Halloween spirit.'" Chase held out the bucket for Heatwave and Blades to get a better look at the assortment of items it held. Blades' worry was immediately replaced with awe as he began to dig through the objects, but Heatwave remained largely unimpressed. "I have conducted a quick search on what humans would consider 'scary' or 'grotesque' and found that many of these items could be found while cross-referencing 'Halloween'. However, I am still perplexed as to why some of these would prove 'scary' to the average person."

Heatwave waited for Blades to move before reaching into the container himself, pulling out one of the flexible toy insects amidst the other various objects. "Alright. Now, what's up with the big bucket and hat?"

"Apparently, they are vital accessories for what the humans classify as 'witches.' I discovered that way to explore Halloween is the common practice of wearing various costumes. And it is a cauldron, not a bucket."

"Whatever."

A high pitched scream floated down into the bunker, and Heatwave took a moment to admire its shrillness. Normally, they weren't able to hear anything from the station/human living area above them. Boulder was the only one to show concern as Blades continued digging through Chase's cauldron, cooing over a raggedy, red haired doll he found. "Um, shouldn't we check on that? It sounded like Dani might be in trouble."

"Oh, that _totally_ wasn't Dani." Blades tossed aside the doll in favor of a smiling clown. "Dani doesn't scream like that. She even makes fun of the fact that my screams are higher pitched than hers, and that's definitely a lot higher than mine. Ooh! Why would humans be scared of such adorable dolls?"

There was another shriek, and Heatwave casually threw the toy he held back into the cauldron. "Lemme guess: you left the fake rats upstairs."

"I am afraid I did not purchase any of those." Chase glanced at the ceiling where the dull noise of banging could be heard. "However, I did inquire about the obtainment of live mice. Do you think they have arrived?"

The old intercom system in the bunker squealed on and spewed static down at them. "Chase…I'm gonna need to talk you about a package—"

Chief Burn's voice was suddenly overpowered by the full force of the shrieks they had been hearing, and all the Bots had to reset their sensors when the intercom finally clicked off. Chase was the first to recover. "Ah! It would seem the final component of this 'Halloween spirit' has finally arrived. If you will all excuse me…"

Boulder automatically took the cauldron that Chase handed to him, and the police bot took the elevator up to the station. While Blades cuddled the plushie monster he had found in Chase's cauldron, Boulder turned to Heatwave and asked, "How did you know Chase had gotten rats?"

"Because only Kade can scream loud enough to be heard down here, and apparently, he's got a thing against rats."

* * *

Days 21, 22, and 23: Curse, Poison, and Phobia  
Universe: G1  
Characters: Jazz, Prowl, Mirage, Bumblebee, Optimus Prime

* * *

Prowl stared at the mech standing before him. Jazz grinned back, and Prowl was able to identify the usual smugness in the saboteur's smile. He glanced back down at the data-pad he had been given and delicately placed it on the desk before him. "Are you honestly serious about this?"

"Why you soundin' so offended, mech?"

"Because I can't decide if this is a joke or an attack on my intelligence."

"What? Ah would never!" Jazz reached over to tap the screen of the data-pad, highlighting the section that was the current cause of discussion. "It's all _legit_. Got evaluated by Rung an' everything. See?"

Prowl sighed and leaned forward in his seat, chin coming to rest on the back of twined fingers while his elbows rested on the desk. "Jazz, please. You do _not_ have—what is it called?—ergophobia."

"How would you know? Are you mo'e aware o' my mental state than our resident psycho-babble mech?"

"I am very aware that the last time you attempted to get out of paperwork, you forged Ratchet's signature to say that you were allergic to formatted reports; the time before that you feigned a cracked wrist joint; and the time before _that_ you tried to hand the work off to Bumblebee. I'm starting to think you're losing your creative touch." Prowl glanced back down at the data-pad. "Though, I must commend you on forging Rung's signature. He tends to change it every other quartex and you managed to figure out the one he is using now."

"Does that mean Ah aint gotta do a report?"

Jazz caught the data-pad that was tossed at his head and was sent pouting through the door. The door swooshed close behind him, and Jazz frowned down at the device he held. He glanced back at the door that now cut him off from his fellow Autobot officer. The mech frowned and stomped down the hallway. "Losin' my touch, huh? Ah'll show you."

* * *

Prowl didn't flinch when a body suddenly collapsed onto the table before him. He merely grabbed his half-filled cube of Energon and continued to sip from it as he skimmed through the data-pad he held. He refused to budge when the body began to violently spasm, nearly knocking the table over.

When the frame finally stilled, splayed across the table spread eagle and tongue comically sticking out, Prowl carefully replaced his cube, shifted in his seat, and traded his data-pad for a new one. The brief pause in the rec-room's activity slowly began to start again, and Jazz's frame was left to lay on the table until Prowl finally sighed. "Jazz, please. You're leaving scuffs on the table."

To Jazz's credit, he didn't break character and continued to "play dead", even managing to stifle the sound of his vents. Prowl shook his head and stood up, taking his now empty cube and data-pad and leaving the room. A few minutes ticked by with a few more Autobots leaving and entering the room before a slender white and blue mech approached the table. "He is gone now. You are starting to look ridiculous."

The cutting statement served as the signal Jazz needed to suddenly be "revived", and the saboteur shifted to sit in the middle of the table and pout. "Man! That mech's got nothin' but coolant runnin' through his lines. How can ya just sit an' stare as another mech dies o' fuel poisonin'?"

"Given your flare for dramatics and current refusal to complete the work assigned to you, I can imagine that Prowl was simply unmoved by your blatant attempts to escape responsibility." Mirage shook his head as his commander continued to pout. "Just fill out the paperwork. It is practically just a series of fill in the blank!"

"No!" The former noble sighed and stepped aside for Jazz to jump off the table. "It aint about the work now. It's about provin' that Ah aint washed up."

"Who is insinuating that?"

"Prowler did when he said Ah done lost my creativity. Ah'm gonna prove that aint true!" Jazz stared at Mirage long enough to make the other mech twitch in discomfort. The saboteur finally grimaced and sidled past Mirage while clutching the armor covering his abdomen. "But first Ah'm gonna go purge that bad cube Ah consumed."

Mirage's haughty posture wavered. "Why would you do that?"

"'Cause Ah wanted the poisonin' ta seem authentic!"

* * *

Prowl stomped down the hallway, his door-wings flared to take up more space than usual. Autobots automatically stepped aside when they heard him approaching, hugging the wall to avoid being whacked by the mech's kibble. Whispers immediately filled the hall once the officer had passed, but Prowl was far too focused to bother noticing. His current goal was to address the matter that had Red Alert spazzing out in his security hub.

He certainly wasn't amused by the commotion that was Jazz. Even less so when he finally reached the mech.

"S'up, Prowler?"

Door-wings jittered. "Why is your office in the hallway?"

Jazz spun around in his chair while Mirage sighed from where he leaned against the desk in the center of the hallway. "Ah can't work in there."

"_Why_?"

"That place is haunted!"

Luckily, there was no one walking by at that moment because they may have been whacked by Prowl's wings when they jerked up and down once more. "Your office is not haunted."

"Yeah it is!" A sudden, ghoulish wail came from behind the closed door of Jazz's office, and Jazz gave the door an emphasized wave. "See? It was that data-pad ya gave me. It was cursed!"

Prowl continued to twitch, dark optics glaring at the grinning Jazz and exasperated Mirage before straightening his shoulders and regaining his calm. Door-wings lowered to a neutral position, and the strategist simply retrieved a new data-pad from his subspace. "My apologies. I will make sure to exorcise all data-pads from now on. Until then, you may use one of _my_ personal data-pads, which are all curse free."

Jazz's grin faltered, and the smirk on Mirage's face confirmed that the saboteur hadn't expected such easy acceptance for his actions. Prowl nodded towards the data-pad Jazz accepted. "Unfortunately, the templates for field reports are not downloaded onto that, so you will have to construct your report from scratch. I expect to find a _thorough_ and _invigorating _report. Good day."

The strategist spun around on his heel without waiting for a response from the two Special Ops mechs and retraced his steps down the hallway in a more calming manner. Jazz stared at the blank screen of the data-pad, and Mirage chuckled. The door in front of them slid open, and Bumblebee skipped out to join them. "Did I sound convincing enough? I didn't have much time to practice."

"You did _wonderful_." Bumblebee smiled widely, ignoring the obvious sarcasm that saturated Mirage's voice, and Mirage turned to lightly pat Jazz's shoulder. "Fill out the report."

"Never!"

* * *

Prowl didn't glance up from his work as the door to his office opened. "Do you have that report?"

"No, Ah—"

"Do the report."

"But—"

"I don't want to hear it."

Jazz pouted and turned back around to leave, dragging the giant, inflatable balloon out behind him.

* * *

"A'ight! You win."

Prowl tilted his head to the side and stared at the pouting saboteur standing in front of him. It had been a week since Jazz had begun his attempts to escape writing one, short field report, and Prowl had begun to wonder if the saboteur realized he was creating more work for himself by avoiding it. Sometimes, the very epitome known as _Jazz_ just didn't make any sense to him. "What have I won?"

The strategist could have grinned at the disgruntled scowl he received. He did well hiding his amusement as Jazz shoved a data-pad towards him, noting that it was the same data-pad he had given the saboteur when his office had become "haunted." "Here's ya stinkin' report. Hope you have fun readin' it while we're partyin' in the rec-room."

Prowl shook his head and watched Jazz stomp back out of his office just as he had come in. The officer activated the data-pad and glanced over the detailed report saved on it. He had barely scanned through the first paragraph before he frowned. He sighed and quickly connected with Optimus through their internal communications system. "Optimus?"

"Yes, Prowl?"

"Did you write Jazz's field report for him?"

There was a pause. "I am sorry, but this is a pre-recorded message. Optimus Prime is currently busy handling…Prime-ly matters. Please, leave a message, and I will return your call in a timely manner."

Prowl shook his head and tossed the data-pad aside for a later time. He would never understand Jazz's animosity towards simple, little field reports.


	11. Halloween Set 3

**AN: **Halloween 3/3 Sets

* * *

Day 25: Slime  
Univserse: MTMTE  
Characters: Brainstorm, Perceptor

* * *

Brainstorm was smart. In fact, he was the most genius of the genii found on the _Lost Light_, and he was perfectly aware of that. Who else could create a high powered EMP grenade with a small battery pack, paperclips, and a cracked chronometer? (And so what if it had ended up knocking out a few allies? The point of the matter was that he had built it, and it had _worked_.)

Unfortunately, Perceptor wasn't as receptive to his genius as he was. Hence why the former Wrecker didn't even bother to look up from his work when Brainstorm strode into his lab. The jet took a moment to admire the small space (and how much better_ his_ lab was) before approaching the other mech. "Perceptor—"

"Whatever you have accomplished in the last hour is of no interest to me."

Brainstorm immediately stopped and propped his hands on his hips. Perceptor continued to jot down notes on his data-pad, not even bothering to turn around and acknowledge his fellow crewmate. "How rude! Here I was, simply stopping by to say hi…but since you are the one who opened the conversation—"

Perceptor sighed and stood up, causing Brainstorm to take a step back with the small box he had pulled out from behind his back. The scientist-turned-sniper gave Brainstorm a blank look, frown deepening after seeing Brainstorm's wings mischievously wiggle. "I have a meeting with Rodimus that I cannot be late for. Don't touch anything."

"I would _never_." Brainstorm waited until the door had slid close behind Perceptor. He waited a grand total of ten seconds before tossing aside the simple mass-displacement cube he had developed out of boredom. The tips of his fingers diabolically clicked together as he shuffled over to what Perceptor had abandoned. "Now, what are you up to, my only rival on this ship of Neanderthals?"

Brainstorm's excitement quickly deflated when he realized there was no super exciting, blow-your-mind-it's-so-awesome device anywhere near Perceptor's workspace. In fact, the only thing within arm's distance was…a drooping organic _weed_. Well, this was disappointing. The inventor poked at the closed shriveled petals that were grouped at the end of a flaccid stem.

"Seriously? _This_ is what he's been cooped up in here doing? Not even a tiny gun? A zapstick? _Anything_?" He poked at the petals again, pausing when the delicate bulb began to part. "Well, at least it does some—"

Brainstorm's huff was abruptly cut off as a projectile was suddenly ejected from the plant. An embarrassing yelp escaped him, and he jumped back to scrap away the fluorescent slime now blurring his vision. When the slime refused to be wiped away, Brainstorm focused on blindly reaching for something—anything!—on the table that would help wipe it away.

Then the burn began to set in.

Perceptor smirked from the wall he leaned against outside his lab as Brainstorm came running out of the room, calling for a solvent to wash away the slime. While First Aid and Ambulon peeked out from the med-bay down the hall, Perceptor made a quick note on the data-pad he had snuck away with him. "Note to self—the mucus of Subject S from the planet Venetrine contains acidic properties that activate on contact with metallic alloys. Further observation and experimentation needed to discover _which_ alloys cause said reaction. Also, Brainstorm is an idiot. End data log."

* * *

Days 26 and 27: Demon and Reaper  
Universe: G1  
Characters: OC and Mystery Character

* * *

Gasps escaped the dark mech with each step he took, but there was nothing that would prompt him to stop his waning pace. The ringing bang of a waste bin he collided with after taking a corner caused him to jump and frantically look behind him. He doubled his pace when his red optic thought a shadow moved, curling towards him and maliciously smiling.

For a hardened Decepticon who had grown up in these very alleys of Kaon like Crossbolt, it felt odd to be frantically searching for a back door to duck into. The very fear that had his fuel pump pounding in his audials hadn't been felt since he had obtained the heavy upgrades for the gladiator pits. Next to Megatron, Crossbolt had been one of the most feared fighters in the ring.

Now he was running like a cowardly Autobot!

He should turn and confront his pursuer, but the moment Crossbolt stopped long enough to do just that, he would remember the sharp pang in his shoulder where his arm had once been connected. Feel the rivulets of Energon that still leaked from the various incisions along his torso. Become oriented enough to realize his field of view was limited to his left side.

Crossbolt's pace jolted to a new level, and he forgot the urge to face his hunter.

However, that didn't matter as he rounded a new corner and came face to face with his new nightmare. The sight of the little monster, with its devilish smirk and glowing red visor, made the mech violently recoil and stumble backwards. One foot tripped over another, and he was suddenly eye level with that malevolent smirk. Crossbolt scurried back, using his one good arm as his only leverage. A sob finally tore from the voice box that had been damaged by earlier torment, and the mech's bright vermillion optic attempted to convey his inner distress. "Please—"

All his haggard plea received was a tut of disapproval and waggling finger in his direction. "Now, don't be that way, my mech. If you hadn't run, we wouldn't be in this situation."

Crossbolt flinched as the tiny monster was suddenly crouched down between his legs, smiling that deceptive grin. He whimpered when a hand came up to roughly grab his wounded shoulder. He swallowed the Energon that threatened to travel back up from his tank and attempted to back away from the glowing visor leaning closer to him. His back hit the wall. "I won't tell anyone—I swear!"

Fear was stifled by a sudden surge of hope when Crossbolt saw the smirk waver. A frown took its place, and the dark frame leaning over him hesitated. He steeled himself and found that he was sitting at the perfect angle to see the muted blue optics flicker beneath the deep burgundy visor that hid them.

Crossbolt's tank churned at the clear view he had gotten of those blue optics when he had wondered into the storage room earlier. There hadn't been much time to do anything beyond instinctively drawing his weapon before he had been knocked out, and he had onlined later to find the visor back in place above the smirk that would quickly become ingrained in his mind. It was the only thing he had been able to focus on through the pain, both physical and mental. Minutes had felt like days, and Crossbolt wasn't even sure how long the torturous questioning had lasted before he had been able to escape.

But with the way he had been so easily overtaken, his great "escape" didn't feel like it had been a very grand accomplishment.

The monster shifted above him, and Crossbolt snapped back to attention, horrified by how difficult it had become to keep his head held up. He flinched this time when he saw the hand that lifted up to gently cup the less damaged half of his face. The movement was much too contradictory to his earlier treatment, and Crossbolt wanted to thrash away from it.

"You just _had_ to walk in." The frown was almost as genuine as the soft tenor of the mech's voice. "I was starting to like you too."

Crossbolt wasn't allowed a chance to respond as the hand outside of his peripheral was thrust through his chest. The lone optic brightened for less than a second before going dark, and the larger mech's frame slumped against the wall. The hand gently retracted, and the remaining mech stared at the cooling frame for a moment before standing.

A washcloth was silently extracted from his subspace. The mess off Energon left behind on his hand was quickly mopped up, and he tossed it into the nearest waste bin before bending over the body once more. He tilted Crossbolt's head to extract the data slug that had been installed at the base of the mech's head.

After looking it over for damage, the small device was quickly stored, and the mech began walking down the alley towards the busy street. Midway down the alley, he reached up and lightly tapped side of his head. "This is Special Ops codename Meister. Assigned mission has been completed. ETA to Iacon base within the next day. Meister out."

* * *

Day 29: Scream  
Universe: MTMTE  
Characters: Ultra Magnus, Tailgate

* * *

It was Rodimus' fault.

This was a fact in Ultra Magnus' mind when the first scream tore through the corridors of the _Lost Light_. It was solidified by the sight of Tailgate turning the corner and scurrying towards him with a glitching visor. So great was the Mini Bot's terror that he didn't even notice Ultra Magnus until he nearly knocked himself out on the SiC's knee.

Ultra Magnus sighed in response to Tailgate's backwards stagger. "Tailgate, any noise above three hundred decibels is not allowed outside private quarters in accordance to sub-clause—"

The mech paused his dressing down to give the miniature mech an unamused stare. "Let go of my foot."

Tailgate trembled and scrambled higher up Magnus' leg. "M-Magnus! You're a big mech—one of the biggest and strongest ones on board. You've gotta protect me!"

_Here we go._ "From what?"

Tailgate's visor flashed, and he quickly glanced over his shoulder. He scooted higher, causing Magnus to sigh once more, and cupped the masked portion of his face with one hand. "The _clowns_."

"…what?"

"The clowns, Magnus—the clowns!" Tailgate's trembling began anew, and he clung to the Enforcer's leg with a new urgency. "Rodimus told me all about them. How they blind people by spraying acid in their eyes from fake plants. And turn poor little organic creatures into these things called balloons and pop them. And they eat the sparks of Mini Bots to make their puppets! I don't wanna be a puppet!"

Ultra Magnus stared down at the panicking little mech that attempted to scrabble up his thigh. He twitched when the sound of snickering reached his audial, and he looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of a yellow spoiler that vanished around the corner. He knew who it had been—his Rodimus senses weren't merely tingling but viciously stabbing at him. He was already three-fourths of the way through a very detailed and severe speech on the reasons why Rodimus should not—as captain—be spreading such ridiculous rumors simply to scare the Mini Bots.

Which Rodimus would never listen to, but it satisfied his core programing enough to make him feel better. Plus, he had been correct, adding another layer of satisfaction.

It had indeed all been Rodimus' fault.

* * *

Day 30: Undead  
Universe: Pint Sized  
Characters: Victoria, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker, Bluestreak

* * *

The young woman sighed and swept her fingers through short raven hair. Her dark grey eyes took in the scene before her, and she shifted where she sat on the floor. She sighed again. "Alright, I'll bite. What the heck are you supposed to be?"

Before her stood a trio of miniature robots. One smiled widely, his dark grey door shaped "wings" wiggling in amusement; another possessed a deep frown that did not reflect the cheery yellow of his armor; the last one held a smile similar to the first, but it was slightly crooked and resembled more of a grimace as he fought to keep two Styrofoam triangles wedged inside his mouth. Sideswipe dramatically flourished his cape, which appeared to be a swath of stiff cloth cut from the shirt Victoria had just thrown away. "I am Dracula! Bleh, bleh-bleh."

The red Autobot suddenly lunged forward and latched on to the woman's bent knee. Bluestreak snickered as Sideswipe began gnawing on the exposed skin. "I am going to suck your blood!"

Victoria stared, and Sunstreaker shook his head at his brother's antics. Bluestreak simply continued to laugh. When the pinches from Sideswipe's new set of canines began to irritate her, Victoria reached down and grasped the mech around his waist, bringing him up to her eye level. "Have you been watching those B-class horror movies again? Because I told you that the next time I get Ratchet on my back for Swoop thinking that the spiders I squish are going to suddenly rise from the dead, I'm sending him your way."

Sideswipe's optics flickered, and he crossed his arms in a pout. "You are such a fun sucker! Worse than Red. I don't even know why I try."

"Believe me, neither do I." Victoria lowered the mech back down to his brother and friend, and Sunstreaker proceeded to smack Sideswipe across the back of the head while Bluestreak's snickers faded. The woman waved him off when he expressed worry over the tiny speck of blood from where one of Sideswipe's fangs had managed to pierce her skin. "How did you even manage to make cut those things out? I haven't seen any of you running around with knives or anything."

"I took apart that blade thing you keep in the bathroom."

"_You're_ the one that stole my only razor."

"Ye—" Sideswipe yelped when Sunstreaker violently elbowed his abdomen. He was about to attack his brother in retaliation when he noticed the deep frown on Victoria's face now. "I mean, no. Why? Was it important? Maybe you should blame Skywarp. I hear that makes everything better."

Victoria shook her head at Sideswipe's feigned innocence. "Whatever. I need to get back to cleaning. No more horror movies when I'm asleep. I mean it, Sideswipe!"

"Yeah, yeah." The red front-liner waved at her as he and his brother left the room. He had nearly made it out of the room when he elbowed Sunstreaker to get his brother's attention. "She never said anything about when she was _awake_."

Victoria rolled her eyes, missing Sunstreaker's murmured reply, and glanced down at her lap where Bluestreak had climbed up to sit. "It's only been a couple of days since you guys showed up, and I already understand why Prowl always looks so tired when Sideswipe's mentioned."

Bluestreak smiled, neither agreeing with her nor defending his friend.

* * *

**AN:** Hope you guys enjoyed these brief ficlets. That's all I have at the moment, but as soon as I wrote another set, I'll be sure to post them here :D


	12. 9: IDW, G1 and Prime

**AN:** I haven't been very active with these flash fics in the past two months, but are the few that I managed to write :D

* * *

Flickers  
Prompt: Star  
Characters: Grimlock, Misfire  
Universe: MTMTE  
Word Count: 295

* * *

They flickered above him: little dots of white, blue, or red scattered across an inky backdrop. Some appeared bigger than the others, and they tempted him to reach out and grasp them from the air. What would they look like then, dwarfed within his massive hands and glowing so brightly?

He had tried many times to grab them. The brightest of them all would disappear within his clenching his fingers, and a surge of satisfaction would leave him tingling. However, when he opened his hand to get a glimpse of his treasure, it would be gone, swept back up into the pitch black he had snatched it from.

Anger would swell up in him, and he would stomp around the ship, ignoring the tiny bot with yellow optics that would flee from beneath his feet. Every time they were within his grasp, they would suddenly disappear! It didn't matter how hard he concentrated—how tight he squeezed his hands.

They were always just fleeting specks of light dancing before his eyes.

"Grimlock!"

A hit to the back of the head made the towering Dynobot grunt, and he slowly turned to stare at the purple mech hovering in front of his face. He barely reacted when Misfire leaned in to examine his face—didn't flinch at the "playful" slap to the face. He glanced back out the window and reached out to touch the glass.

Misfire snorted, and his feet thudded against the floor. "Are you staring at the stars again? Come on! Krok said you still have a breem in the corner for nearly squishing Fulcrum again."

Grimlock raked his fingers against the glass but eventually submitted to Misfire pushing him back in the direction of the corner he had abandoned for the twinkling images.

* * *

Bun Fun  
Prompt: Double Meaning(s)  
Characters: Bumblebee, Jazz  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 221

* * *

"Hey Jazz! Have you heard the good news?"

The saboteur leaned back in his chair. He took a moment to admire how Bumblebee's usual jovial smile turned into a frown from this angle. "Naw. What's up?"

"Sparkplug said Carly had a bun in the oven. That's why she and Spike couldn't come to the base today."

"A bun?" Jazz flipped around and leaned his arms against the back of the chair. "I been noticing Carly eating a lot of those lately."

"You think it's one of those cinnamon ones? They smell the best."

"Maybe it's one of those honey ones. She's been carrying those around in her bag lately." Jazz tilted his head. "How come they couldn't make that here? We got all that stuff so they could do their human thing here."

Bumblebee's smile twitched. "I don't know. I hope they can get it out soon; Spike said he would go with to the drive-in to watch the horror movie marathon with me."

"Does it normally take two people to make a bun?"

"Beats me. Humans do weird things."

Jazz hummed and waved after Bumblebee. He twisted around to face Blaster, who had been sitting patiently across the table from him. "Wonder why Sparkplug didn't tell 'Bee about Carly being pregnant. He was telling everyone when he came in earlier."

* * *

I Needed That  
Prompt: Basic Need(s)  
Characters: Ratchet  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 491

* * *

The clang of a metal fist meeting the equally metal surface of a work table reverberated through the silent hab suite of Autobot Outpost Omega One. The white and orange mech released a litany of curses before snatching up the small tools he had been attempting to use on the damaged device before him. His curses morphed into a wordless shout when the delicate scanner fell apart in his hands.

This was the third time this week—_the third time_! Ratchet had never witnessed such…such…stupidity! How many times did it take Bulkhead to realize he couldn't mindlessly slam his fist against a counter commonly used to hold his devices? What did Arcee think she was doing when she took it upon herself to smash open a scanner just to change the batteries? Why did Bumblebee take his tools and attempt to weld together a replica of organic wildlife? _And then leave them on the floor for Optimus to unknowingly step on?_

A gush of hot air was expelled as Ratchet dropped his tools and the now worthless scanner to lean back in his chair. The medic was beginning to seriously contemplate a strike when it came to repairing things. If he didn't repair them, then nothing would be broken anymore—problem solved. No more seeing a month's worth of hard work crushed, battered, and broken; no more having to lecture the younger 'bots about responsibility; no more pretending to not hear the snickers to his honest disappointment. Let them try to get along without his expertise for a while; that would show them just how serious it was when he said he needed that!

A ping from his door sent him to grumbling; a second ping made him glare; and the third ping pulled him to his feet. Ratchet muttered under his breath as he stepped up to his door and sent a signal for the locked door to slide open. His glare was in full force to pin down whoever had disturbed him, and it hardened when there was no one standing before him. He growled and prepared to spin around on his heel and lock the door once more when he briefly glanced down.

Ratchet paused and stepped further into the doorway to glance up and down the hallway. His search proved fruitless, and he finally bent down to grab the cube of luminescent blue liquid and the data-pad sitting beside it. The sight of the Energon made Ratchet realize how long it had been since he last refueled, and he took a brief moment to turn on the data-pad and reveal the full eight seasons of the unsociable human doctor he had begun to take interest in thanks to June Darby.

He scrolled through the list of full episodes now at his disposal before flicking his finger to expose the other open file on the data-pad. He almost smirked at the message:

_"We thought you might need this."_


	13. 10: Prime, G1, and IDW

**AN:** I forget that I actually upload flash fics here too ^^; So here's two "chapters" of the fics that have been created in the past two months :D

* * *

Going Out with a Bang  
A Transformers Flash Fic  
Prompt: Endings  
Characters: Vehicon (OC), OC  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 494  
**Notes:** Takes place after the events in Drone.

* * *

Humans are weird.

Then again, my only experience with them came from the 110 pound frame of estrogen maniacally dancing around a tiny pile of chemicals wrapped in a convenient package. I shook my helm and watched the little human wave her arms and twirl on her toes while she set up her little "celebration." Riley briefly stopped and held her hands in front of her face, her fingers forming a square with her index finger and thumb as she stared up at the moon. She turned back to angle one of the bigger rockets a fraction of an inch to the left before repeating the process.

"Are you almost done?" I sighed and moved to sit on the edge of the cliff when I didn't get an immediate answer. Riley huffed at the red sand that rose from my movement, and I moved my hands on the ground beside me just to make it happen again. "Come on, Riley. It's late and cold."

"Oh, stop being such a baby, Jeffrey! I'll have you back before the _Golden Girls_ start." Riley finally seemed happy with the arrangement of fire hazards and came to join me on the edge. Her legs swung more freely beside my huge, metallic limbs. "What time is it?"

"Five minutes since the last time you asked me. Ten since the time before that. And then the time before that—"

"Okay, okay! Jeez, I take you out of the garage for one night and you become such a drama queen."

I think if I had a mouth like most forged mechs, I would have smiled. Maybe. Or frowned. I don't know how mouths work. "Don't you have school in the morning?"

Riley gave me one of her looks that I was probably supposed to be able to read by now. "I told you school doesn't start again until after the first."

I shrugged and picked at the dirt that had settled on my neon green arm. Great, I'm going to need another wash when we're done with this. "Why are we here again?"

"To end the year in an awesome bang!" Riley threw her arms out to emphasize the size of this "bang" she spoke of. "It's a celebration to get rid of the old and come in with the new. What time is it now?"

I huffed. "11:59."

"Perfect!"

Riley leaped to her feet and pulled out a tiny object from her pocket. She used it to light the ends of the fireworks and ran back to sit against my arm. The fizzling show of bright lights and annoying whistles and bangs wasn't that impressive, but it seemed to please Riley enough.

…maybe it's not humans that are weird; maybe it's just _my _human. That's what I get for being the rebellious Vehicon I am. I rubbed at the spot where a Decepticon sigil had once been embellished on my chest.

Out with the old—in with the new.

* * *

Language  
Transformers Flash Fiction  
Prompt: Commonly Confused Words  
Characters: Prowl, Jazz  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 317

* * *

"Humans are weird."

Prowl was initially inclined to ignore the random comment made by the mech lounging in front of him. That decision was abruptly taken from him when a data-pad dropped in between him and his work. "Look at this!"

Prowl stared at the screen. "Jazz, this isn't the report I ordered you to write."

"Yeah, yeah, are you looking?"

Prowl scanned the text with bored optics. "I fail to see what this has to do with said report."

"It's got everything to do with the report!" When Prowl continued to stare, Jazz flopped back into his chair with a grunt. "Have you ever just stopped and looked at how weird the humans' language is? At least the English one?"

Prowl sighed and finally set his work aside. "If I play along, will I finally get my report?"

Jazz hummed, tapping his chin. "Maybe."

"Fine. How weird is it?"

"I'm so glad you asked!" Prowl shook his head at the enthusiasm Jazz exuded by simply leaning forward in his seat. "Did you know, that humans got these words that sound exactly alike, but got completely different meanings? They even spell them different!"

"Yes." Jazz's smile suddenly fell. Prowl shifted forward to lean his elbows against the desk. "They're what the humans commonly call 'homophones.' Now, your report should be double-spaced and in the correct font and color this time. I would like a more thorough account of your mission and an accurate time stamp too."

Prowl returned his attention to his work, leaving Jazz to frown at him. For a moment, there was blissful silence, and then Jazz slouched back into his seat. "You suck the fun outta everything."

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'm well aware of that." Prowl briefly glanced away from his data-pad. "And don't even attempt to write it all in homophones."

Jazz groaned and slouched deeper into his chair.

* * *

Opposites Attract  
Transformers Flash Fiction  
Prompt: Opposites Attract  
Characters: Rodimus, Ultra Magnus, Drift  
Universe: IDW  
Word Count: 96

* * *

"Rodimus, what are you doing?"

"Nothing."

"Why are you currently attached to my arm?"

"Because."

"…let go."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because we're opposites, Mags." Ultra Magnus' usual frown deepened in response to the huge grin he was being subjected to. "We attract each other."

"Remove yourself before you compel me to use force."

"Aw, Magnus! You're no fun!" Rodimus pouted while Ultra Magnus walked away. He waited until the other mech had cleared the corner before turning to Drift. "How long was that?"

"2.3 klicks"

"Booyah! That free round of Engex at Swerve's is totally mine."


	14. 11: Prime, G1, and Movie-verse

Love Culture  
A Transformers Flash Fic  
Prompt: Alphabet Challenge  
Characters: Bumblebee, Ratchet  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 167

* * *

Crimson clashed with white as it swept across the surface. Droplets splattered from above, forming imperfect shapes wherever it fell. A hand reached down to touch one of the drops.

"Dear Primus, what are you doing?"

Excitement shown in wide, blue optics, and Ratchet sighed at the long string of beeps and buzzes he received as an exclamation. "Another human holiday, Bumblebee? What could possibly need you to cover the floor with red paint?"

Flourishing his artwork, Bumblebee buzzed and pointed at the red symbols on the canvas with equally red fingers. Ratchet huffed. "Hearts? Bah, whatever! You just better clean this up or Rafael will be getting a ride here from Bulkhead."

Gestures flew the moment the medic's back was turned, and Bumblebee made sure that his mimicking beeps were too low for Ratchet to hear. He turned his optics back to the crude, crimson hearts he had painted with his fingers, and his door-wings wiggled at the thought of giving Rafael his first, homemade Valentine.

Humans did that to let others know how they special they were to them. Or so he had heard.

* * *

Buying Forgiveness  
A Transformers Flash Fic  
Prompt: Excellent Adjectives  
Characters: Wheeljack, Perceptor, Ratchet  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 300

* * *

"Well, that is quite…"

"Yes?" Light panels flashed a bright blue. "What is it, Percy?"

Perceptor stared at the objects piled on top of Wheeljack's workbench. He leaned closer to get a better look before deciding against it. "I am attempting to find the correct word."

"Uh huh."

The red and blue mech hummed. "I will admit that you are most tenacious."

"Yep."

"And you believe this…comely display of 'affection' will earn his forgiveness?"

"Totally." Wheeljack patted the box on top and quickly grabbed it before it could fall from its precarious perch. "How could it not?"

"Well, you were particularly boorish this time."

"Nonsense! Mech just needs to learn how to take a joke."

Perceptor hummed again, reaching out to delicately poke one of the red bears Wheeljack had obtained. He wondered how the engineer had managed to find four of them big enough to fit perfectly in a mech's hand. "And yet here you are: attempting to regain your medical bay privileges through the excuse of the humans more meretricious holidays."

"Oh, don't be so mean! These holidays are actually a lot of fun." Wheeljack reached into the box he held and pulled out a vibrant purple block. "When else do you get the excuse to make high-grade Energon blocks?"

"Whenever the urge hits the Twins?"

"Now you're just being loutish." Wheeljack sealed the box shut once more and grabbed everything he could from the table with a happy flash of his vocal fins. "See, I can use fancy human words too. Wish me luck!"

"Of course." Perceptor watched Wheeljack slide through the door with his pile of gifts. He waited a moment before opening a direct comm. link channel to Ratchet. "He's on his way."

"He got anything good?"

"Depends on your definition of 'good.'"

"Duly noted."

* * *

Love Bug  
A Transformers Flash Fic  
Prompt: Word Play  
Characters: Drift, Bumblebee, Crosshairs, Hound, Tessa, Shane  
Universe: Movie  
Word Count: 452

* * *

"When pining, the lavish wind waits, eager and ready."

Bumblebee reset his optics and stared at the mech standing in front of him. Drift stared back, as calm and serious as Bumblebee had ever seen him. Tessa stood by his foot with the same expression. The Camaro forced his damaged vocalizer online. "What?"

"It is not the end, for waiting of another. You will find the one."

Snickering bubbled up from the other side of the Yeager barn, but it was abruptly replaced with a grunt. Bumblebee ignored the quiet scuffle and shifted his weight from one foot to another. _"Wha'chu talkin' 'bout_?"

The malleable metal of Drift's face twitched, and Bumblebee thought it was weird that Tessa reached out to pat the side of his leg. Like she was encouraging him to continue. "When waiting for—I'm sorry, Tessa. But this is just ridiculous. Being subtle about was not the correct course of action."

Tessa made a noise, but Drift ignored it. He stepped forward and grabbed one of Bumblebee's hands. He pulled the yellow mech closer, ignoring the startled beep he received. The snickering started once more before the perpetrator was shushed.

"While I am…flattered by your admiration, I cannot in good conscience encourage such an infatuation for I do not feel the same way. I am sorry, but please! Do not let this discourage you from finding one that truly cares for you and vice versa."

The barn was deathly silent, and Bumblebee stared at Drift with bright blue optics. A snicker broke the silence and slowly evolved into a loud guffaw. Bumblebee jerked his hand away and sputtered through his vocalizer. Drift and Tessa glared at Crosshairs, Hound, and Shane.

"Hey! Don't laugh; this is a very serious issue."

Crosshairs ignored the outraged young woman and bent over double from laughter. Shane at least attempted to calm down, but he still chuckled alongside Hound after he moved to sling an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders. "Sorry babe, but that just worked out so beautifully!"

Drift glared at Crosshairs while Bumblebee quietly escaped the barn. "You are the one that sent that love letter!"

"And it was worth it!" Crosshairs pointed at the swords-mech, who released an uncharacteristic growl. "Just for that look, samurai. Just for that look!"

Hound's guffaw renewed as Crosshairs was flattened on his back, the edge of a blade pressed against his throat. The paratrooper continued to hysterically laugh even as they began grapple with one another. Hound stepped to the side when the laughing mech was tossed in his direction. "I was thinking that haiku would win him over too."

Crosshairs laughed even harder when Drift threw the love letter data-pad at Hound's head.


	15. 12: Rescue Bots and G1

**AN: **Moar Flash Fics! ^_^

* * *

Team Leader  
Prompt: Archetypes (Innocent Youth and Mother Figure)  
Characters: Heatwave, Blades  
Universe: Rescue Bots  
Word Count: 330

* * *

"Heatwave!"

The firetruck Rescue Bot groaned and tried to ignore the sound of heavy footsteps running towards him. However, he couldn't ignore the waxing cloth being snatched out of his hand and flung across the room. "Blades!"

"Heatwave!" Blades grabbed Heatwave's face, and Heatwave grunted at the strong grip. "You have to help me. _Now_."

Heatwave paused, holding back his initial growling response, and frowned. There had been many times that Blades had run to him in some state of hysteria. The helicopter always found something to worry about, and that had only increased since landing on Earth.

But the grip on his face and the expression on Blades' face made his spark stutter. As the leader of this rescue squad, it was his responsibility to ensure that all of its members were taken care of. "What is it? What happened? Are you hurt?"

"The hamsters are zombies!"

The sick feeling suddenly vanished, and Heatwave began to scowl. "What movie did you watch this time?"

"That doesn't matter right now, Heatwave. What matters is that they're zombies, and we have a duty to stop them before Griffin Rock is overrun." Blades paused. "As Rescue Bots, of course."

"Zombies aren't real."

"Just because we haven't seen them, doesn't mean they're not real." Heatwave sighed when Blades finally released him to fling his hands in the air. "Humans have all sorts of things that we don't understand."

"Cody says they're not real."

"Uh huh. And he didn't believe in aliens before meeting us either."

Heatwave sighed at the defensive stance Blades took, arms folded over his cockpit and feet spread apart. Blades wasn't going to let this go—not unless he was shown irrefutable proof. And even then he probably wouldn't.

But again, it was his responsibility to ensure his team was cared for. "Hamsters?"

"_Zombie_ hamsters."

Heatwave sighed again and stood up. "Next time, you're watching a comedy."

Blades smiled and began to lead the grumbling fire truck through the firehouse.

* * *

Innocent Guise  
Prompt: Archetypes (Innocent Youth, Mentor, and Scapegoats)  
Characters: Bluestreak, Prowl  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 199

* * *

"—so I told Sides that he was completely nuts if he was thinking about actually going on that ramp, and he was all like, 'You've been hanging out with Prowl too much, Blue, because you've turned into such a fun sucker,' and I was like, 'But you still love me because I'm cute.' He just laughed and proceeded to take the ramp, and that was how me, Sides, and Sunny exploded the highway."

Prowl's door-wings twitched, but Bluestreak's smile never wavered. "And that is how the entire situation happened?"

"Yep!"

"And you're not leaving anything out?"

"Nope!"

Prowl hummed and tapped the data-pad in front of him. "I hope this is not the final story you plan to share with Optimus."

"Then I'll blame the Decepticons. After all, they were there too."

Prowl's optics winked, and he handed the data-pad to Bluestreak, who accepted it with a steady grin. "You didn't learn this behavior from me."

"Jazz corrupted me." Bluestreak wings gave a happy flutter. "Well, I'm off to bedazzle Optimus with my innocent optics. Wish me luck!"

Prowl shook his head with a sigh. When had such an "innocent" mech become the most mischievous of them all?

* * *

Inner Turmoil  
Prompt: Treachery  
Characters: Sunstreaker, Sideswipe  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 500

* * *

_"You could've ended it eons ago._

_"The war? Yeah, you could've ended it. After all, death isn't anything new to you._

_"How many mechs have you killed at this point? Hundreds? Thousands? _Millions_? You've never shied at the sight of Energon—never shied at the opportunity to rip a spark out. You were a top contender in the Gladiator Pits for a reason._

_"And what happened today? You were right there! The Prime fell, and you were the next in line to face the Slagmaker. What did you do? You _froze_. When was the last time you froze?_

_"All it took was one good hit. One hit right in the center of his chest armor. Prime had already weakened to the point that Megatron was calling a retreat. Why didn't you—for once—let those deadly instincts take hold?_

_"Are you afraid? Of what—ending the war? You're such a coward. Instead you watch your brother rush in and take the fragger on. Now he's lying here with a collapsed spark chamber that _you_ could've prevented._

_"You could've prevented a lot of death. You should've killed him back in the Gladiator Pits when you had the chance. Imagine—a Cybertron where war had never broken out because you had stopped it from even happening. How would everyone react hearing that treachery?_

_"No wonder no one _really _sees you as an Autobot."_

Sunstreaker flinched when a hand landed on his arm. He tensed before he felt a calm fall over his twisting spark. His dulled indigo optics brightened, and he turned towards the berth his brother had been assigned to.

Sideswipe's optics were half lit, and Sunstreaker checked the pain blockers that Ratchet had attached to his brother. He had long memorized the dosage the medic gave them, and Sunstreaker frowned when he found the dosage to be normal. "What are you doing online?"

The hand on his arm slid down to grasp his hand. Sunstreaker stared at the duel scarred hands; it was one of the few features of their frames that were exactly identical. "Stop it."

The yellow mech frowned even more at the static-filled demand. "Go back into recharge, fragger."

"No." Sunstreaker growled at the petulant tone his brother held. Sideswipe merely tightened his grip. "You've gotta place here. You're an Autobot just like me—you're just a little pricklier around the edges. Where would we be if you hadn't jumped in and saved the Prime at Protihex? And who would've pulled Prowl off the field when he took a hit from Bruticus? And what about when Ratchet—"

"Shut up!" Sunstreaker twitched, but Sideswipe's grip never loosened. "That doesn't matter."

"You hard-headed slagger." For all his fuss, Sunstreaker didn't resist when Sideswipe pulled him onto the berth, curling up beside his split-spark twin when no one was there to see. "Why can't you have a little more faith in yourself? I do."

Sunstreaker didn't respond, listening to the other half of his spark hum beside him.


	16. 13: Movie, Prime, and G1

**AN: **I need to start writing more flash fics again...

* * *

Liaison Intervention  
Prompt: Twist  
Characters: Will Lennox, Bobby Epps, Galloway, Ironhide  
Universe: Movie  
Word Count: 497 

* * *

It was easy for Will Lennox to identify the high-pitched screech that traveled through the Diego Garcia compound. He didn't twitch when it began, and he would have continued his conversation with Epps had the other man not burst into a fit of hysterical laughter. Will glanced over his shoulder, and his mouth fell open.

Galloway stomped towards the two men, glaring at any NEST soldier he passed who dared to snicker. Epps fell into a coughing fit the closer Galloway got, and Will bit the inside of his cheek to hide his smile. Galloway's nostrils flared, but his glare was obscured by the white glue covering his glasses. "This is _not_ a laughing matter. I have been attacked, and I demand the perpetrator be found and rightfully punished."

Will stepped on the tip of Epps' boot. Epps' coughing laughter paused for a second. "I'll get right on that. Did you see anything that could help tracking down the person who did this? Someone hanging around the area; a trail they left behind; the naked flamingo now running around the base?"

Epps released another round of hearty laughter while Galloway growled and worked his white glue and feather covered hands in a strangling motion. Will smirked at Galloway's back when the liaison stomped away, chuckling at the large pile of pink glitter and feathers leaving a trail in his wake. Epps was bent over with his hands on his knees and gasping for breath when Will turned back to him. "Pay up—I told you it wouldn't even be a week before Sideswipe got the guy."

Epps waved a hand at him, and Will leaned against the outside of the hangar with a smirk and waited for the man to catch his breath. The loud and familiar sound of mechanical feet caused him to turn and smirk up at the hulking Autobot coming their way. "Hey, big guy. Looks like Optimus is going to have to do a little bit of smooth talking next time he meets with the new liaison."

"Really?" Ironhide huffed in what Will would consider a restrained laugh when Galloway continued his hissy fit on the other side of the base. "Doesn't look like that'll be for a while. Guess that means Prime's free for a little target practice after all. Shame—he was looking forward to his boring meeting."

Will glanced back towards the raving liaison, back up at Ironhide, and back again at Galloway. Epps huffed as he finally caught his breath, and Will groaned. "_Ironhide_, you didn't."

"Didn't what?"

"I thought you guys said Sideswipe was the prankster."

Ironhide harrumphed and straightened his posture, but Will could see the smirk forming on the scarred face of the Autobot. "I don't_prank_. I simply have a tendency to find a use for everything. Sideswipe wasn't using it anyway, and Optimus was being stubborn."

Epps bent over double in a new fit of laughter, and Will shook his head with a smile.

* * *

Chain of Command  
Prompt: Grammar Tips (Semicolon usage and Affect vs. Effect)  
Characters: Soundwave, Starscream, Vehicon  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 256

* * *

Soundwave tilted his head to the side. Starscream's voice created such a…unique sound effect; unique enough that Soundwave carefully catalogued each sound bite into a separate file labeled "STARSCREAM SCREECHES" for later use.

"For the last time, _I_ am the one in charge now; _I _am leader of the Decepticons; so _you_ will do everything _I_ saywhen I say it." Starscream shoved his pointed finger against the chest of a Vehicon. Soundwave tilted his head to the other side at the ping the forceful finger produced. "Do you understand?"

The Vehicon snapped to attention, and the other Vehicons watching from their work stations did the same. "Of course Comman—I mean, _Lord_ Starscream. Whatever you say."

Starscream grunted and shoved his finger a little deeper into the drone's chest. After a moment, the Seeker straightened, and a smirk spread across his face. "Good. Now back to work—all of you!"

Starscream waltzed off the command deck with his head and wings held high, the smirk firmly in place until the door slid shut behind him. The Vehicons glanced at one another, and Soundwave straightened his head when all of the Vehicons turned as one to him. He closed the file he had stored Starscream's sound bite in and accessed another, larger compressed file.

"_Back to work_."

Every Vehicon on deck immediately turned to their work stations; Soundwave nodded and returned to his own station. Starscream's screeches may have been formidable, but Megatron's growling voice affected the crew in a way Starscream's voice could never accomplish.

* * *

Thy Regret is Jazz  
Prompt: Regret  
Characters: Jazz, Sideswipe  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 100

* * *

"I regret ever meeting you."

A wide grin flashed along Jazz's face. He turned towards the mech sitting beside him, grin growing wider at the pink, green, and yellow splotches that adorned the usual red and black mech. "Wha'cha gotta regret, my mech?"

"My pranks never ended with personal damage before."

"Really? You were in mo'e dire need o' my help than Ah thought."

"You just _had_ to let Ironhide get that paint gun."

"Ah didn't _have_ to…but it was a lot mo'e fun, huh?"

Sideswipe huffed at Jazz and slouched further in his seat, waiting for Prowl's impending sentence.


	17. 14: IDW, Movie, and G1

**AN: **It's definitely been a while since I updated this (I say as if it hasn't been a while since I've updated anything here :|). My source for flash fic prompts abruptly ended because of RL issues, but I've finally started writing them again. I'm no longer restricted to 500 words or less, so some of the new ones will definitely be a little longer than previous ones ;P

* * *

Buggy Break  
Prompt: Love  
Characters: Sunstreaker, Bob, _Lost Light_ Crew  
Universe: MTMTE  
Word Count: 1000

* * *

"Bob."

Two yellow antennae shot up, and the Insecticon paused rummaging through the little nest he had created in the corner of the room. He tilted his head towards Sunstreaker and twitched as Sunstreaker took one slow step towards him. "Hey, Bob. I've gotta treat."

Bob snuffled, the digits of his smaller appendages tapping together. Sunstreaker took another step forward, one hand extended with the treat as he slowly crouched down. Bob snuffled again. "You can have it if—"

The Insecticon suddenly dashed forward. Sunstreaker grunted at the full-force collision, and he toppled over onto his back. Little digits easily pried the glowing treats from his hand; and before he could react, Bob had scuttled across the room, jumped up to activate the keypad next to the door, and bolted from the room.

Sunstreaker twitched before he stood. "Bob! Get back here!"

)(

"—so I told Magnus that Rodimus had approved the new drink, and he was all 'Rodimus is a hooligan,' to which I replied—"

Rung smiled and nodded as Swerve went on. He shuffled the small box he held from one arm to the other and glanced down the hallway where his office waited. A small sigh escaped at the thought of the small place on his shelf waiting to be occupied by the model he held, but he continued to smile and nod in response to Swerve's energetic storytelling.

"—and then—"

Swerve cut off when a purple blur appeared around the corner. Rung chuckled as Bob dashed by them, came to an abrupt stop, and comically hobbled backwards to stop next to them. Swerve laughed when the bug nuzzled up to the orange mech. "You keep feeding him treats, and he'll forget Sunstreaker exists."

Rung smiled and pulled out one of the many treats he had made a habit of carrying onboard the _Lost Light_. "I wouldn't worry about that."

Bob snatched the treat out of Rung's hand with a happy rumble and managed to nibble on the corner of it before a loud shout came from the direction the bug had come from. "Bob!"

The Insecticon took off, treat tucked close to his chest. Swerve and Rung barely had time to step aside when Sunstreaker sprinted around the corner. The yellow mech didn't glance at them, but they heard him snarl when Bob managed to squeeze through the elevator's doors behind Skids.

Sunstreaker hit the elevator doors a second later. He growled and slammed his fist into the door before ducking around the corner to take the stairs. Rung shifted his stance when the hallway had become quiet once more. "Well, I should—"

"So anyway—"

Rung sighed as Swerve began his story again.

)(

Chromedome shook his head at Rewind's giggle. Tailgate followed Rewind's example and peeked under the edge of the table. "He's so cute!"

Chromedome sighed as the table's hidden occupant bumped against his leg…again. "Sunstreaker will be upset when his pet purges all the sweet Energon you two feed it."

"Don't be such a downer, 'Domey!" Chromedome shook his head at the twinkle he found in Rewind's visor. "We would never feed Bob enough to give him a tank-ache"

Chromedome shook his head again and turned to watch the room while the two mini-bots cooed over the hidden bug. They had only been in Swerve's bar for a breem when the Insecticon had shuffled in behind Trailcutter. Without Sunstreaker or Rung in the area, Bob had immediately sniffed out his third favorite treat-giver: Rewind.

"I wonder why he isn't with Sunstreaker," Tailgate said as he took the engex Swerve's serving-bot offered. He passed it below the table where, if Tailgate's giggles said anything, it was gulped down by Bob. "Bob doesn't normally stray far from him."

"It must be—"

The table jerked. Bob's shrieks were loud enough to make some mechs turn towards them, but his struggle was in vain as he was slowly pulled out. Sunstreaker's head popped up over the edge of the table as he slowly stood up with the struggling Insecticon. "Would…you…stop it! You've had your little fun."

Bob whimpered and struggled every step Sunstreaker took, but the former front-liner was more than capable of keeping his grip. Chromedome watched the two exit the bar, high-pitched squeals and curses catching the attention of other mechs, and shook his head when Rewind sighed beside him. "No."

"But—"

"You may be my _Conjunx_, but we are _not_ adopting an Insecticon."

)(

Sunstreaker vented and yanked Bob back. "Let go of the doorway!"

Bob released a rare hiss and instead gripped the edge of the wall even tighter with both pairs of his front limbs. Sunstreaker grunted but refused to let go. "_Bob_."

Another hiss. Sunstreaker vented again and suddenly released his grip. Bob's frame fell to the floor, and the Insecticon released a surprised warble. When he went to stand, Sunstreaker immediately punched the keypad beside the door and watched the bug struggle to escape before the door slammed shut.

He ignored Bob's whimpers and turned to the stall behind him. Bob had little time to react as he unhooked the showerhead and pointed in the direction of the cowering bug. He paused long enough to sigh at the pitiful look Bob gave him. "You stink, you have grease built up in your joints, and you're sticky from all those treats you mooch off of four-eyes—you're taking a bath, Bob."

Bob cried as the first streams of solvent hit him. Sunstreaker vented again when the bug changed tactics and pitifully shimmied across the floor on his stomach to curl next to the mech's feet. Sunstreaker turned off the solvent and bent down to pat Bob's head. Bob took advantage of his moment of weakness and snuggled up to his chest with a purr. "I'm only doing this because I care about you."

Bob hissed as a stream of solvent hit him square in the face. There would be no snuggling later!

* * *

'Bee VS Bug  
Prompt: Gender Flip  
Characters: Bumblebee, Sam  
Universe: Movie  
Word Count: 559

* * *

Bumblebee was ready.

He had done plenty of recon to prepare. He had traced the AllSpark's signature to Earth; procured an excellent alternate form; tracked down the remaining relatives of Archibald Witwicky; and discovered the map to the AllSpark through PrincessWarrior217, otherwise known as Samantha "Sammy" Witwicky.

He felt good as he sneakily parked in the only available spot in the shady-looking car lot. He angled his side mirror to get a good view of his human target and her father. She appeared very bored by the spiel the car dealer gave her, yawning as her father began to ask questions. Her eyes roved over the lot, and Bumblebee had to keep himself from sitting a little higher on his wheels.

He didn't need to worry though. Nothing in the car lot looked even _remotely_ as good as he did. All of the Earth vehicles appeared rundown: fading paintjobs, a flat tire here and there, and there was even a car with a cracked windshield in the corner. Sure, he wasn't doing so well himself, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the other cars he was going up against.

Bumblebee straightened his side mirror when Sammy began walking towards him. He ran a quick scan over his form and twitched his rearview mirror until it was straight. He locked his gears to keep from moving when the human finally reached him.

Placing her hands on the edge of his open window, Sammy hummed and stuck her head through the opening. Bumblebee stiffened as her long, brown hair tickled across his steering wheel when she leaned further in. She poked the little bee hanging from his rearview mirror. "Cute."

And highly ironic. It would be a good story to laugh over when he—

Bumblebee jumped when a high-pitched squeal escaped Sammy. He recovered quickly, but that didn't seem to matter as Sammy pulled her head out of the window and ran around him to stand next to the faded, little vehicle beside him. "Dad! This is the one—this is_ exactly_what I wanted."

Bumblebee could only watch as the human girl climbed into the faded Volkswagen, hands gripping the steering wheel. Her dad and the car salesman joined her after short trek across the car lot. The dealer released a hearty laugh. "Good choice, good choice! I got that Bug a coupla weeks ago; brand new engine and everything! I'll give it to ya for three thousand."

"That's great!" Sammy leaned out of the car to address her dad, who was circling the vehicle with a frown. "We can use the left over cash to give it a new paint job. It'll look good as new!"

"I don't know…how about twenty-five hundred?"

"Ya know what, I'll cut ya'll a deal. Twenty-nine hundred."

Bumblebee didn't know how to react to the deal happening beside him. What had just happened? How did that old, ugly _Bug_ just beat him? It didn't even look like it would make it off the lot!

He watched the three humans cross the car lot and enter a shabby building. He waited a total of three seconds before his door whipped out. He felt a little better at the small dent left in the dull Bug beside him. So…his preparations might not have been as full-proof as had imagined.

Nothing a little scanning couldn't solve.

* * *

A Day in the Life of Ultra Magnus  
Prompt: Memory  
Characters: Rodimus, Ultra Magnus  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 167

* * *

"Remember when I told you how amazing a mech you are?"

"I have no memory of that, Rodimus."

"Well, I totally did. And remember when you said I was an amazing leader?"

"I would never say such a—"

"Just go with me here, Mags! I'm such an amazing leader that you _totally_ trust my judgement."

"What have you done?"

"What have I—how can you just assume the worst from me, Mags?"

"My name is _Ultra Magnus_, and why are you preventing me from entering my office?"

"…because."

"Move."

"Wait! I, uh, have a confession to make."

"Yes?"

"I love you, Mags."

"This is getting ridiculous."

"No! Wait—"

"What…why?"

"Uh…"

"Just why? Why my office of all places?"

"It has the best air circulation."

"…get these…_things_ out before I return."

"Aw, but Perceptor said they were harmless."

"I don't care. I don't need my office resembling one of Earth's jungles."

"But it's so cool!"

"Rodimus."

"Remember when you said you wanted a more exotic view?"


	18. 15: Prime, RiD 2015, Rescue Bots

**AN: **More Flash Fics :D

* * *

Charisma  
Prompt: Homophones (him/hymn, idle/idol, and knight/night)  
Characters: Soundwave, Megatron  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 653

* * *

They treated him like an idol.

That was Soundwave's first observation as he watched and listened to the other gladiators. They spoke of the mech's enthusiasm, his intelligence, his strength. All of those who had suffered a defeat from him were more thrilled than displeased.

Soundwave didn't understand. How could a gladiator be pleased about losing? It tarnished his reputation—made him look weak. Cost him more fights. There was no glory in losing.

Yet, every gladiator he defeated sang nothing but praises. He was treated more like a knight from the early Golden Age who would lead the lowly gladiators to a better life than the scruffy fighter he was—that they all were. Soundwave observed most of the gladiators grow weak as a result of their juvenile hopes, losing more to inexperienced mechs hoping to make something of themselves.

Soundwave would not be so easily swayed.

He saw nothing but a scuffed and weary gladiator standing across the arena from him. One that was pitted night after night against others in a life or death fight for the amusement of the cheering crowd. He ducked and dodged like every other gladiator; his strikes were surer than the average mech, but nothing special. Soundwave retaliated with the same zest—nothing special to be found in this one.

Suddenly, Soundwave's arm was caught as he went in for the death blow. His frame buckled; his mask of glass shorted with surprise. A sharp, toothy grin caused him to stutter. "You fight with more strategy than the others do! Why should such a skill waste away in this pit when it could be used for something _more_?"

Soundwave wrenched his arm away and stumbled back a few steps. His body moved on its own as the other gladiator came at him again without pause. He felt himself pushed to his limits, both physically and mentally as he attempted to figure out the mech's sudden change in strategy. Gone were the idle swings of a gladiator who had performed the same deadly dance time and again; in their place were more precise swipes—ones that actually nicked the edges of his armor.

The cheering crowd became background noise, and Soundwave's focus narrowed to just the mech in front of him. The longer the fight went on, the more enthusiastic the other mech became. Fatigue began to creep up on him, but Soundwave continued to push himself, refusing to allow exhaustion to make him clumsy.

There was no indication of how long the fight went. Soundwave knew that it was long enough to make even the most enthusiastic in the crowd grow silent, and the clash of metal was the only sound that echoed through the arena—the age-old hymn for gladiators. Soundwave feinted left; the mech deflected his blow from the right while swinging a blade to nick the armor covering his side.

It was Soundwave who finally messed up. He went on the offense when he should have focused on defense, and he found himself suddenly staring at the open ceiling of the arena. His spark stopped for a short second as a blade tickled the underside of his chin; he went limp with acceptance.

The death blow never came. Instead, amidst the sudden plethora of noise from the crowd, the blade retracted, and a hand took its place. Soundwave hesitated and accepted the hand, tensing as he was pulled up with a surprising amount of strength.

The mech grinned at him, red optics glowing brighter than before. "You're a strong warrior! One who fights with more than just brute strength alone. You deserve more than what is keeping you in these pits."

The mech turned, and Soundwave watched him leave the arena to loud whoops of approval. He tilted his head before turning to leave the arena as well. The other gladiators had treated him like a savior…and Soundwave could see why now.

* * *

Who's Afraid of…Strongarm?  
Prompt: Prank  
Characters: Sideswipe, Grimlock, Strongarm  
Universe: Robots in Disguise (2015)  
Word Count: 606

* * *

Sideswipe smirked and took a step back. It was perfect! Now all he needed to do was get Russell and…

"Yo, Sideswipe!"

Sideswipe jumped at the sudden shout and cursed when he bumped into the pulley system he had just finished rigging. He sighed in relief when he managed to catch the chain before it completely activated the trap. He frowned at the mech stomping towards him, goofy smile in place. "What d'ya want, Grimlock?"

The goofy smile fell a little, and Sideswipe sighed again. "Bumblebee was setting up patrols for the next week, and I came to see if you wanted to partner up. Solo recons are just so _boring_."

"Ah, I can't Grimlock." Sideswipe shook the chain in his hand. "I'm kinda busy right now."

"Oh." Instead of returning to Bumblebee, Grimlock took a step forward, optics tracing the length of the rattling chain. "Wha'cha doing?"

Sideswipe smirked and gestured to the rest of the set up. "I'm setting up the Scare-o-Matic 5000."

"Scare-o-what?" Grimlock used the tip of his claw to scratch the side of his hide. "Why?"

"You know how Russell was bragging about nothing scaring him?" Sideswipe waited for the Dinobot to nod before continuing. "Well, I'm going to prove that wrong."

"But he said—"

"That doesn't count!" Sideswipe yanked on the chain, and Grimlock took a step back, optics focused above Sideswipe's head. "He's gotta be afraid of something else, and I'm gonna prove—"

"Uh…"

"What?" Sideswipe glanced up and gapped at the rolling bowling ball he had set into motion with his yanking. "Oh…"

"Sideswipe, Grimlock."

Both mechs jumped back as Strongarm turned the corner of the aisle in front of them. She took only a few steps towards them before the first of Sideswipe's traps was sprung. The young cadet shouted as a sheet suddenly plunged towards her, and Sideswipe cringed at the shrieks he had recorded earlier.

Strongarm jumped back and tripped over the wire that activated the second trap. A tarp released above her, showering her with the many insects that Sideswipe had managed to collect throughout the day. Her shrieks were accompanied this time by gunfire as she pulled out her gun to shoot at the unexpected attack. Something creaked, and Sideswipe and Grimlock watched with wide optics as the shelves on one side of the aisle came loose and sent pails of paint sailing down onto Strongarm.

The mechs could do nothing but gape at the now rainbow colored Strongarm, who stared back at them with wide, startled optics. The silence didn't last long as Sideswipe burst into a fit of laugher. "Did you…I just…that was great! So much better than scaring the pants off Russell."

"_Sideswipe_."

Sideswipe froze, and Grimlock took a step back. Strongarm slowly stood up, sending pails of paint tumbling to the ground. Her glare made Grimlock step back again. "I, uh, just remembered something! See ya!"

"Grimlock!" Sideswipe stood stunned as he watched the Dinobot flee from the scene without looking back. He turned back to Strongarm and flinched when he realized she had started to shorten the distance between them. He eyed the pail of yellow paint she carried with her. "I, uh, you know, we're all gonna laugh about this later because none of this was actually meant for you!"

"You know, the humans have a way to solve situations like this: it's called 'getting even.'"

Sideswipe yelped and took off after Grimlock, barely dodging the pail of paint that was thrown at him.

* * *

Butterfly  
Prompt: Nature  
Characters: Boulder, Blades  
Universe: Rescue Bots  
Word Count: 208

* * *

Boulder locked his joints, staying completely still as the butterfly fluttered around his head. Tiny blue and black wings almost shimmered as the insect drifted in the light breeze. Boulder stopped his vents when the insect took his lifted finger as invitation to land; it shuffled around the length of his finger as if it were inspecting its landing pad.

Boulder slowly lifted his hand. The butterfly only hopped a little as it felt the slow shift. "Fascinating…"

"Boulder?"

The green Rescue Bot hummed and sighed when the butterfly took off in flight again. He turned to Blades and immediately reached out to stabilize the end of the beam he had been holding. "Have you ever wondered why some of Earth's species have wings while others don't?"

Blades sighed and relaxed a little when the weight of the beam had been redistributed. "More like wondered why humans would create vehicles to fly. The ground is much more stable."

Boulder hummed and snapped into "robot-mode" when one of Griffin Rock's human residents passed by. He stayed completely still and waited for Graham to give him a broad order to unfreeze him; but he couldn't contain his smile when the gentle insect landed on his finger again, wings gently fluttering.


	19. 16: IDW, Prime, and G1

**AN: **More Flash Fics :D

* * *

Recreation  
Prompt: Freedom  
Characters: Ratchet, Tailgate  
Universe: MTMTE  
Word Count: 307

* * *

The piece of scrap metal jettisoned through the air, gradually losing speed the farther it flew. Ratchet kept his optics on the scrap metal until it was just like any other tiny speck gently drifting through space. A huff of air escaped his vents, and he turned his head to glance behind him.

He almost smiled when he saw Tailgate struggling to keep the small parts in the open container from floating away like the piece he had sent spiraling away from the _Lost Light_. The mini-bot caught a few pieces of the scrap metal and stuffed them back into the box; he bent over to use his body to block the pieces from floating away again and turned to offer the scrap of metal he still held in his hand.

Ratchet's smile instantly turned into a frown, but he took the offered scrap and gently tossed it in front of him. It drifted for a moment before he swung the curved pipe. He didn't hear a sound as the two metal objects connected; he only felt a faint vibration travel up through the pipe to his hand. He watched the second piece of scrap metal join the first, and the weight on his spark seemed to gradually lift as he took another piece from Tailgate, the mini-bot's optic band gently glowing.

Ratchet ignored the ping from Ultra Magnus, watching the unsalvageable sparkplug drift into the surrounding abyss. He had no patients to attend to at the moment, unless Ultra Magnus was pinging him for that reason; in that case, the idiots could suffer a little bit for not heeding his warnings about consuming too much of Swerve's engex at once.

The medic swung his pipe and sent another sparkplug flying, a small smile making its way to his face as he actually began to enjoy himself.

* * *

Mom  
Prompt: Mother  
Characters: June Darby, Jack Darby  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 439

* * *

June couldn't remember a time when she wasn't referred to as "mom." Sixteen years had passed since Jack first arrived in her life. Nothing had been scarier than holding him the first time, a little screaming bundle with a matted swath of black hair. Long days of work and long nights of scarce sleep had made her question whether she could handle being a single mom.

Then came the day that Jack said his first word: "Mama!"

June pushed herself to be the best mom she could be. In-between shifts at the hospital, she would come home and do everything she could as a mom: pick him back up when he fell off his bike, stay up late to finish his science fair project, push him to be everything he could be.

She thought she had endured the worst parts of being a mom; but no one had ever been around to warn her of the hardest part of motherhood. Now she could only hold the railing in a vice grip as she watched her son slowly walk towards the Ground Bridge. She forced a smile on her face when he turned back and gave her and the others on the platform a thumbs-up. She could almost hear him making fun of her for worrying so much.

June's heart dropped when he placed the helmet on his head and stepped through the portal. She stood there, staring at the empty space he had stood, and tried not to melt into the blubbering mess she wanted to become. Her baby was growing up; his first real trip away from home was to a distant alien planet.

A part of her just wanted to rewind the clock—to go back to simpler times when Jack would play nurse to his toys with her stethoscope. What would she do when he finally left her? When she pushed him, like the good mom she was, to pursue his own life and become whatever he wanted to be? What would she do when her main priority wasn't "mom" anymore, but June Darby again?

A hand landed on her shoulder, and June glanced away from Ground Bridge. Agent Fowler nodded and gently pulled her to the computers that Miko and Raf crowded around, waiting for an update from the Autobots. June took a deep breath and pushed aside her rising emotions to stand beside him.

Her role as a mom was far from over; Jack still needed her support, no matter where life took him.

* * *

How to Train Your Dinobot  
Prompt: Illustrate  
Characters: Sunstreaker, Dinobots  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 898

* * *

Sunstreaker didn't ask for this.

None of the Autobots really asked for _this_. That was why it was _him_ currently having a glaring contest with the giant, metal, Earth-based lizard, terror of the Dinobots. Sunstreaker snorted at Grimlock's ferocious snapping jaw; he crossed his arms over his chest and took a moment to glare at each Dinobot crowded behind their leader. "Are you finished yet?"

Sunstreaker stilled himself against the gust of air that emitted from the Dinobot, but he continued to scowl as Grimlock transformed. Sunstreaker was used to towering over the majority of the Autobot, having a frame built for the front lines, but Grimlock stood a good two heads above him. He fought the sudden urge to straighten his spine to appear taller and instead deepened his scowl. "Finally decided to talk like a big mech?"

"Me Grimlock big mech!" Sunstreaker huffed a sarcastic laugh. His annoyance for the whole situation increased ten-fold when Grimlock jabbed a finger into his chest, leaving a smudge of grease behind. "Me Grimlock bigger than _you_."

Sunstreaker scowled more at the grease smudge than the Dinobot. "I'm not talking about actual size, you lugnut. I'm talking about…forget it! I don't have to do this."

Sunstreaker turned on his heel and stomped out of the cavern, twitching at the loud laughs that followed him. He was halfway down the hall, at the point where the rock the _Ark_ was embedded in shifted to the orange walls of the ship, when a squawk came behind him. He continued to stomp away until a shrill voice called out, "Sunstreaker!"

The golden front-liner hesitated long enough for the large Dinobot to catch up with him. He flinched to avoid a grease-stained hand, and Swoop withdrew to a respectable distance. "You Sunstreaker can't give up!"

Sunstreaker twitched. "I shouldn't even be down here! It was Sideswipe who was assigned to you idiots."

Swoop didn't react to the insult, and Sunstreaker twitched again as the smallest Dinobot instead looked down and began to twiddle his fingers. "But you Sunstreaker _better_. Me Swoop thought _you_ be able to convince Grimlock. "

Swoop sighed, and Sunstreaker glared. Swoop shook his head and stepped around the front-liner to retreat back into the Dinobots' den. "Me Swoop thought wrong. Sorry."

The Dinobot had only taken a few tiny steps when Sunstreaker continued his path to the elevator with a growl. "I'll be right back."

Sunstreaker took a short trip up the elevator, scowled at his brother lounging in their room, and was back in Dinobot territory before any of the Dinobots had a chance to disappear. He scowled at Sludge rolling around a pile of dust and made enough noise putting a foldable chair in the middle of the cavern to gain all of their attention. Sunstreaker ignored them and pulled out the data-pad he had grabbed, swiping his finger across the screen. He nodded and detached the stylus from the data-pad.

Swoop was the first to shuffle up to the mech, sitting beside Sunstreaker on the floor and leaning over to see what the front-liner was doing. Sludge waddled over next, using his alt-mode's long neck to his advantage to watch Sunstreaker's sweeping strokes across the screen. Next was Snarl, who happened to catch a glimpse of the data-pad's screen as he huffed past. Slag was just angry that no one invited him to the little get together and stomped over to glare at them.

Grimlock was the last to join the party, stubbornly keeping his distance until Sunstreaker finally finished. Both mechs glared at each other from across the room, Grimlock's growls slowly increasing in volume, until Sunstreaker twirled the data-pad around. "This is the story of the stubborn, stinky petro-rabbit who wouldn't clean himself."

Grimlock huffed, and Sludge was the only Dinobot to be openly impressed by the quick—yet somehow extremely detailed—portrait of a copper and silver rabbit. Sunstreaker maintained eye contact with Grimlock even as he used his finger to swipe the screen. A new image appeared of the petro-rabbit jumping in a pile mud. "This petro-rabbit had a habit of jumping in puddles."

Sunstreaker pieced the story together as he went, watching Grimlock's reaction the entire time. He heard Sludge gasp when the petro-rabbit's foot began to rust because it neglected to take care of itself; he tried not to snort along with Slag when the petro-rabbit had to choose between splashing in more mud puddles and losing a foot. Sunstreaker openly smirked when halfway through the story, Grimlock glanced down at his own foot, which was caked in mud, organic detritus, and what appeared to be a miniscule spot of rust.

There was silence as Sunstreaker ended the story. "And the petro-rabbit died from a rust infection because it refused to clean itself. The end."

The Dinobots stared as Sunstreaker clicked the data-pad off. Even Swoop appeared slightly disturbed by the abrupt ending, but that was none of Sunstreaker's concern. He shoved Sludge's head away, ignoring the Dinobot's whine, and stood up. "That's it; story's done. Move."

Sunstreaker left the Dinobots in an abnormal silence. Once he was in the elevator, he pulled out the data-pad again and began to save the drawings he had made to a new file. He would keep the little…story in case he needed to illustrate the importance of a clean frame to the Dinobots again.


	20. The Massive Dump Edition: G1, Prime, RB

**AN: **lol, I've really fallen behind in uploading the flash fics here. XD I have about six or seven lined up to post here, so I'll just go ahead and dump them all into this "chapter." ;P

* * *

Team of Heroes  
Prompt: Hero  
Characters: Heatwave, Chase, Boulder, Blades  
Universe: Rescue Bots  
Word Count: 1000

* * *

Heatwave huffed and rolled his eyes. Kade was being his usual haughty self as Huxley interviewed him about the team's latest rescue. Heatwave wanted to emphasize the _team_ part; from the way Kade spoke, the average bystander would think the human had escorted all the humans to safety, kept the apartment building's structure from collapsing, redirected Mr. Harrison from the smoke, and put out the fire all by himself.

There was no _team_ when it came to Kade. At least when he was in front of the camera.

Heatwave sighed again and turned to Chase. "Any casualties?"

Chase glanced over to where Chief Burns was speaking to some of the unfortunate families who had been rescued from the burning building. "All of the residents are accounted for and unharmed."

Heatwave nodded and examined what was left of the apartments. "Can't really say the same for the building."

"From what I have gathered, the fire was started by an accidental oil fire in the kitchen of apartment 2B." Chase gestured towards a woman whom Chief Burns appeared to need to comfort the most. "I would like to plan a small presentation on the protocol of handling such an emergency as a precautionary measure for the future."

"We'll talk to Chief Burns when we get back to the firehouse." Chase nodded and moved to join Chief Burns. Heatwave walked over to where Boulder stood scanning the burnt shell of the building. "Any idea why this place came down so quickly?"

"From my scans and the blueprints Graham found, this building was very old." Boulder showed Heatwave said blueprints. Heatwave nodded, pretending to understand the schematics he was shown. There was a reason why Boulder's specialty was engineering and not his. "One of the first to actually be built here on Griffon Rock. It wasn't as up to code as the landlord claimed it to be."

"We'll look in to that later." Heatwave clapped Boulder on the shoulder, earning a smile, before leaving the engineer to check on the last member of the team. Blades stood a little distance away from the crowd, aggressively wiping his arms. Heatwave came to a stop next to him and frowned. "I hate to ask this, but what are you doing?"

"The soot!" Blade used his fingers to scratch a particular spot on his elbow, and Heatwave finally noticed the black streaks that covered his arms and chest. "Dani made me fly right through the smoke to intercept Mr. Harrison, which is a good thing because whatever was coming from that building was _not_ just smoke. Can you imagine what would have happened if Mr. Harrison got caught in that stuff? I'd have Doc Greene analyze this stuff if I were you."

"Good idea." Heatwave noticed that the same black streaks were on Blades's rotors as well and frowned. The substance looked practically caked on, and he didn't hesitate to reach out and begin scraping it off. "Did it cause any problems with your flying?"

"A little." Blades's rotors flickered under Heatwave's hand, and Blades angled his head to look behind him, eyes widening at the sight of the gunk caking his rotors. "It's there too!"

"Just a bit." Heatwave frowned at the layer of gunk that stuck to his finger and flicked it off. "Better to stick to the ground until we get this completely cleaned off."

Heatwave didn't expect any argument from the copter, and he actually smiled at the sigh of relief he heard. He scraped off a few more layers of the substance before Blades moved. He frowned when the copter refused to stand still. "Hold still."

"Uh." Blades pointed down by their feet. "I think we have company."

Heatwave stopped and followed the direction of Blades's finger. A little redheaded girl stared up at them, big green eyes opened wide and the gaps between teeth making her gaping mouth look even more comical. She gripped a doll in her hands, and Heatwave wasn't surprised to realize that it was an animatronic with bulbous eyes, long ears, and short spindly limbs. Knowing the residents of Griffin Rock, he wouldn't be too surprised to find out that the little girl had created it herself.

The little gave them a hesitant wave. "Um…"

Blades took the low hum as a signal to coo and crouch down to be closer to the girl. "Hi! Do you need help finding your guardian?"

The little girl blinked. She shook head when Blades patiently repeated the question, and her eyes kept darting between Heatwave and the animatronic in her hand. Heatwave sighed and flicked his hand to get rid of the black stuff he had scrapped off Blades's rotors. "I'm gonna drag Kade away from the camera so we can start on clean up. The faster we do this, the faster we can start rebuilding these people a safer home."

"Wait!"

Heatwave didn't pause, assuming that the little girl was addressing Blades, who they all acknowledge had become the most approachable Rescue Bot with Boulder being a close second. He grunted when the girl appeared in front in him and quickly stepped aside to avoid harming her. She seemed unaware of her near escape and buried her face in the doll. Heatwave crouched down when he heard her mutter into it. "What?"

She lifted her face, her cheeks turning red. She held out her doll, which Heatwave now saw sported the black substance on Blades. "You saved Mr. Carrots…and my mama. Thank you."

Heatwave blinked, but the little girl was already running away to huddle next to the woman who had accidentally caused the fire. He immediately straightened when Blades giggled. "What?"

"Sounds like you have a fan." Blades giggled again despite Heatwave's glare. "This is totally going on the blog!"

"_Blades_."

"Nu uh, Mr. Hero." Blades hummed. "Maybe I'll start a fan blog for you too!"

Heatwave sighed. He was no hero: just the average Rescue Bot doing his job. His team made deserved all the praise…even Kade.

* * *

Keep on Survivin'  
Prompt: Survival  
Characters: OCs  
Universe: Prime  
Note: Set in my Drone universe  
Words: 414

* * *

"I'm a survivor! I'm not gonna give up; I'm not gonna stop; I'm gonna work harder!" I flung my hands into the air and hit the top of the garage by accident. "I'm a survivor—what! I'm gonna make it; I will survive; keep on survivin'!"

"Jeffrey!"

I shrieked when Riley suddenly appeared in my vision. She shrieked when my hand came flying down to smash the tiny radio I had found and turned on out of boredom. She stared wide-eyed at the now smashed radio, still pathetically squeaking out the chorus of the song.

We sat there for a quick minute before Riley twisted around the cap on her head; the better for me to see her narrowed, but playful, brown eyes. "Were you just singing— "

"I was not!"

"You can't—"

"There are some things we don't talk about!"

Riley burst into a fit of laughter. "You sounded like a dying cat! My dad actually sent me out here to see if 'my' stray cat was having a heart attack."

Furball growled from the corner of the garage, and I swept my hand towards him, expertly hiding the crushed radio under a table in the process. "Well, as you can see, Furball has survived the heart attack. You can take the good news to dad."

Riley shook her head, but she spun around on her heel anyway and slowly walked back to the door. Good—it was too late for her to be out anyways. "O-_kay_. I see _someone_ is a little sensitive about their voice."

"This is my alone time!" I huffed at her snickering. "You don't just walk in on a mech during his alone time!"

"_Clearly_." Riley was almost out the door before she turned back to me with a smirk. "I could've come in to hear you talking about how your anaconda don't."

I gasped and swatted a hand towards her, refusing to join in with Riley's laughter as she finally cleared the door. "How _dare _you! I may be living in a human's garage, but even I have more class than that."

I could hear Riley giggling all the way to the backdoor of the house, and I waited until the backdoor slammed shut behind her. I glanced down at Furball, who was—per usual—glaring at me. I tapped my fingers against the top of my knee and started to hum. "I'm a survivor—I've already made it. Just keep on surviving; keep on surviving…"

* * *

Lawbreaker  
Prompt: Slice of Life  
Characters: Bluestreak, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker  
Universe: G1  
Words: 984

* * *

"I don't think this is such a good idea…"

"Don't be such a wet blanket, Blue." Bluestreak jolted on his wheels as Sideswipe bumped into his bumper. Sunstreaker grunted across their open comm. link channel but didn't budge when Sideswipe did the same to him. "Me and Sunny's done this _tons_ of time."

"Don't call me that."

"What does a wet blanket have to do with any of this?" Bluestreak slowly inched forward as the two brothers moved to sit side-by-side. He stopped when he was in line with them. "I don't even use a blanket."

"It's just a human expression, Blue." Sideswipe's engine growled, and Sunstreaker responded with a growl of his own. Bluestreak tried to answer them, but his engine sounded like a tiny mewl in comparison. "Means you're being a fun-sucker like Prowl."

Bluestreak stiffened. "I am not!"

"Prove it." Sideswipe's engine growled again, and Bluestreak put more power behind his mewl. It sounded a little better than before. "On your mark…get set…go!"

Bluestreak's wheels squealed as he took off. He pushed himself to keep up with the Twins. His engine rumbled as his speedometer reached speeds it never had before.

Sideswipe's red form suddenly swerved towards him, making him yelp and automatically slow down. "What the—Sunstreaker!"

"You're the one who wanted a race with no rules."

"That doesn't mean take out my side mirror!"

From his vantage point in the back, Bluestreak watched Sunstreaker swerve towards his brother again. He was surprised the mech would risk damaging his freshly waxed paintjob, but what did he know? Sunstreaker never minded his paint being scratched if it meant beating some 'Cons either.

The two brothers swerved away from each other, Sunstreaker cursing when he almost went off the road. Bluestreak took his chance and shot through the gap between the two. His spark erratically pulsed, and he couldn't help but release a little giggle when he zoomed into first.

He angled his rearview mirror and watched both of the Twins drastically slow down behind him. "Oh, come on! Don't just let me win!"

"Blue—"

Another vehicle suddenly appeared on the road behind him, and Bluestreak's spark stopped before he even heard the siren that usually accompanied the flashing blue and red lights on top of the car. He jerked his wheels to the side and came to a skidding stop on the side of the road. "Sideswipe!"

"Just stay calm…"

"What do I do?" Bluestreak's engine turned over with a tiny whine as he waited for the human to step out of the car behind him. "I've never broken the human laws before! Am I going to get towed? Will I get the wheel boot? I don't want the boot!"

"Just—"

"Prowl's going to kill me!" Bluestreak had to lock his wheels to keep from taking off as the human finally stepped out of the car. "And then Jazz is going to kill me—and then Optimus will give me the Optics of Disappointment. I don't want the Optics of Disappointment!"

"Just chill, Blue!" The human was only a few steps away from his driver's window now. He couldn't just _chill_! "Just do as he says, and everything will be _fine_. Trust me—I've handled human cops long enough to know they're not nearly as uptight as Prowl."

Bluestreak didn't respond as the man came to a stop beside his window. He wanted to keep it closed, as if ignoring the officer would make the entire situation go away. He whimpered when both Sideswipe and Sunstreaker casually drove past them. They weren't even going to acknowledge they had been the reason for all of this!

The officer must have lost his patience because he knocked his knuckles against Bluestreak's tinted window. "I don't have all day for this. License and registration."

Bluestreak's spark dropped. What did he do? He didn't have either of those! However, obeying authority was too ingrained now for him to continue to ignore the officer, and he slowly lowered his window. "Umm, sir? I don't have those."

The man balked when he realized the driver's seat was empty, and he even leaned through the window to check the backseat. Bluestreak had to force himself to stay still until the officer spoke again. "Are you another one of them Autobots?"

Bluestreak responded without thinking. "Yes."

The officer's stern expression melted away into a smile, and Bluestreak jumped when the man smacked a hand against his roof. "Well, I'll be. Mind if I take a picture with you? My son loves you guys."

"Uh, sure."

Bluestreak remained silent as the officer went back to his car to pull out a tiny camera. The picture was taken, and the officer was all smiles when he spoke again. "I'll only give you a warning this time, but if you make it a habit of racing out here with those other speed demons, I'll have my captain contact your leader. It's dangerous to race out here even if the roads don't see a lot of traffic."

Bluestreak automatically agreed and went silent when he noticed Sideswipe driving towards them. Sideswipe slowed to a stop and rolled down his window. "Hey, Jerry! How's the kid?"

Jerry smiled and gave Sideswipe a wave. "He's doing good! Just started school again last week." His smile fell just as quickly as it had appeared. "What have I told you two about racing out here?"

"We were just having a having a little _fun_."

"Well, I hope that 'fun' was worth another twenty-four hours of community service."

"_Jerry_. C'mon."

Bluestreak received another pat on his roof. "Thanks for the picture! It was nice meeting you."

Bluestreak waited for the officer to return to his car and drive away. Sideswipe performed a quick U-turn to pull up beside Bluestreak. "See? I told you everything would be okay!"

"I'm never doing this again."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

D-7  
Prompt: Triumph  
Characters: Wheeljack, Ratchet  
Universe: G1  
Words: 263

* * *

They stared each other down. Wheeljack's blast mask made his face unreadable, and Ratchet's perpetual frown spoke of nothing but habitual annoyance. The med-bay they sat in was unusually quiet, even with First Aid sorting things on the far side of the room.

Wheeljack slowly raised his finger. "D-7."

Ratchet twitched, and Wheeljack immediately leaped to his feet. "I knew it! I win!"

Ratchet huffed and pushed away the patchwork game set that Wheeljack had burst into his med-bay with that morning. "It's a silly game anyway."

"You're just sour that I blew up your last ship." Wheeljack reached down to place a peg on the last little starship on Ratchet's side of the board.

Ratchet huffed again. "Why the humans would create a game based solely on luck in beyond me."

Wheeljack's face fins flashed a bright red, but Ratchet ignored them as he stood up. "That wasn't _luck_. I thought everything out carefully!"

"On your last shot." Ratchet turned his back on Wheeljack and headed towards First Aid. "It was _luck_."

Wheeljack huffed and picked up his little game set. "Jealousy doesn't look good on your Ratchet."

"And naivety looks less appealing on you." Ratchet paused and turned back to face the engineer, who was already halfway out the door. "Same time tomorrow?"

The fins on either side of Wheeljack's head flashed a happy blue. "Of course! I'm already halfway through making this game the humans call Operation. Thought you'd find some kind of appreciation for that."

Ratchet shook his head and ignored the soft laughter First Aid tried to stifle.

* * *

Archivist

Prompt: Enormous (Adjective)  
Characters: Alpha Trion, Orion Pax  
Universe: Aligned  
Word Count: 965

* * *

"_Wow_."

Alpha Trion paused, data-pad hovering mid-air. The soft pitter-patter of feet made him glance down from the high archive, and he quietly hummed when a tiny frame came into view. The red and blue youngling glanced around him, mouth agape and cobalt optics glistening.

The youngling reached out and ran the tips of his fingers along the edge of the data-pads on the lower shelves. The youngling carefully slid one of the data-pads out from its designated spot, and Alpha Trion finally spoke. "And who may you be?"

The youngling's shriek echoed throughout the large room, and he dropped the data-pad with a loud bang. The youngling immediately scrambled to pick it up, and he stuttered while Alpha Trion patiently climbed down from where he had been archiving.

"I—I'm sorry!" The youngling stared at Alpha Trion with wide optics as the elder mech approached him. Alpha Trion stopped in front of him, steepling his fingers as his dark optics watched the youngling. The youngling clenched the data-pad between his tiny fingers. "The door was open, and my friend told me to…I mean, I didn't mean to break anything."

Alpha Trion allowed a small smile to soften his severe expression. He held out his hand, and the youngling automatically handed over the data-pad. A quick once over found the data-pad to be no more worse for wear than usual, and Alpha Trion handed it back. His smile widened when the youngling automatically replaced it on the shelf. "The door was left open?"

"Yes." The youngling blinked rapidly and almost seemed to scowl around the word. Alpha Trion chuckled. "I've never been inside here before. Everybody says it's a _secret _place."

"Perhaps not secret, but access _is_ limited." Alpha Trion gestured towards a set of chairs often used by the archivists. The youngling hesitated before obediently following, climbing into a chair that was obviously designed for larger mechs. Alpha Trion sat opposite of him. "What is your impression of the Archives, youngling?"

"It's _huge_." The youngling's head swiveled around to take in the towering cases and high windows. "No, no, no—it's _enormous_. And there's so many data-pads!"

Alpha Trion chuckled once more. "Yes, an entire history's worth. You have an interest in data-pads?" The youngling shifted in his seat before nodding. "What is your name, young one?"

"Orion."

"Orion…" Alpha Trion stood up. Orion watched him with the same wide, bright optics as he walked over to a particular shelf. With a hum, his fingers skimmed over the spines of the data-pads until he plucked one from the shelf. He tapped the screen and glided back over to his chair. "Orion…Pax? Sparked on the quartex of the twenty-third solar cycle of the thirteenth oribital cycle of 700 ano-cycle?"

Alpha Trion, though already confident in his knowledge, knew he was correct when Orion's mouth dropped open, and the youngling tried to lean over far enough to see the screen of the data-pad. "How did you know all that?"

Alpha Trion handed the data-pad to Orion and continued to smile when the youngling's optics devoured the contents of the screen. "The Hall of Records keeps track of every spark created on Cybertron. I suppose I should wish you well on your creation day."

The steady hum of little vents seemed louder than usual, and Orion must have noticed it because the humming grew louder. He ducked his chin to his chest and practically glued his optics to the screen. "Thank you…"

"Surely you have more important things to do on such a momentous day."

"Not really." Orion shifted on his chair. "I mean…I'm supposed to be at the training academy, but my friend said I should do something cool for my tenth vorn."

"And sneaking into the Archives is his version of 'cool'?"

There was no ignoring the high-pitched squeals of vents now. Orion couldn't even meet the sober elder's optics. "Yes, sir…"

"The door was not left open, was it?"

"I…" Orion slowly lifted his optics and clenched the data-pad in his hand. Alpha Trion waited patiently for an answer. "No, sir, it wasn't. Please don't get angry at Jazz! He was only helping me because I had always wanted to see the Archives, and if his sire finds out he's hacking keypads again...you have to tell them it was my fault! I was the one who did everything."

Orion trailed off when a heavy hand landed on the top of his helm. Alpha Trion tried not to smile at the youngling's innocence during such a sober moment. "I see that you would go to great lengths to protect your friend. This was only a small infraction. Curiosity can only be contained for so long after all." Alpha Trion lifted his hand and used his finger to lift the youngling's chin so that their optics would meet. "But you should think your actions through more clearly the next time you feel such an urge to break the rules."

Orion's head frantically bobbed up and down, knocking against Alpha Trion's fingers before the mech had a chance to retract his hand. "I will—I promise!"

Alpha Trion nodded and stood, motioning for Orion to do the same. The youngling stared up at him with bright optics that shone with more awe than fear now. "Good. Now, I believe your friend may begin worrying about you if you take too long. He may even think you've been caught."

Orion easily understood and smiled at Alpha Trion before running towards the door, his little feet echoing in the library. Alpha Trion sighed when he caught another little youngling peeking through the door before Orion reached it, and he shook his head with a tiny smile when he heard the excited beeps and whistles that only younglings could understand.

* * *

Dr. Sideswipe, Ph.D.  
Prompt: Phobia  
Characters: Red Alert, Sideswipe, Sunstreaker  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 506

* * *

Red Alert didn't like the rec-room.

He always sat in the same spot—the table in the farthest corner of the room, his back to the wall, and chair angled towards the door. His dark optics scanned every Autobot that entered the room, his gaze heavy enough that many mechs would swear up and down that Red Alert had some special optic lens that supported "x-ray vision." He was avoided by just about everyone except for a few mechs: Optimus Prime, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Inferno.

And Sideswipe.

Sideswipe smiled at Red Alert's glare as he slipped into the empty chair across from the Security Director. Red Alert immediately shifted his chair to the side, affording him another clear view of the door. "How's it going, Red?"

"Fine."

"Good." Sideswipe sipped from the Energon cube he had brought with him. Red Alert's optics flickered between Sideswipe and the rest of the room's occupants. "You know, I might not say this a lot, but I'm really inspired by how you're able to overcome your condition every time you come out of the security hub."

Red Alert visibly twitched, and his optics significantly darkened when they fell back onto Sideswipe. His hand clenched around his cube. "Are you making fun of me?"

Sideswipe immediately put his hands in the air. "Of course not! I'm seriously impressed when someone with panophobia is brave enough to push themselves out of their comfort zone."

Red Alert twitched again. "Panophobia?"

"Yeah." Sideswipe took another casual sip and didn't comment when Red Alert's attention temporarily jumped to the loud group of Mini Bots in the middle of the room. "It takes a lot of mental and physical training to overcome such a crippling fear."

Red Alert's optics once more bore into Sideswipe. "How do you know I have that?"

"I had a friend who suffered from it." Sideswipe sighed and reached out to pat Red Alert on the forearm despite the other mech's visible flinch. "Just take it one day at a time, Red. You'll get through it."

With that Sideswipe picked up his cube and walked away. He could feel Red Alert's optics on him as he crossed the room and sat at another table. Sunstreaker's optics narrowed the moment he sat down. "Ratchet's seriously going to retrofit you into a dispenser this time."

"No, he won't. He loves this face too much to do it any harm."

Sunstreaker huffed and finished his own cube of Energon. "Prowl is going to limit your access to those human medical websites."

"Then I better make the best of it while I still can." Sideswipe's optics dimmed for a moment before he abruptly stood up, cube in hand. "I'm off to tell Mirage he has peniaphobia!" Sideswipe paused and pointed at his brother. "Don't forget, you have a very severe case of cacophobia. I'd advise routine exposure to rusted metal to overcome your condition."

Sunstreaker snorted and returned to his cube of Energon as his brother ran off to the table Mirage had just settled down at.

* * *

Lucky Black Cat  
Transformers Flash Fic  
Prompt: Superstition  
Characters: Bulkhead, Miko  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 600

* * *

There wasn't much about Miko that surprised Bulkhead anymore. She was a spitfire prone to any number of actions in a given span of time. Sometimes she got herself into trouble—trouble that would make Bulkhead's spark drop—but it all worked out fine in the end.

Having her suddenly jump out of his moving form was one of those spark-dropping moments.

"Miko!"

The young girl completely ignored him, sprinting across the empty street towards one of the more rundown buildings in Jasper. Bulkhead swung his form around to parallel park beside her and hummed his engine in an attempt to get her attention. "Miko?"

The buns on the top of her head bobbed when she reached into a dirty cardboard box he hadn't noticed before. There were tiny little squeaks from inside, and he revved his engine in surprise when the girl finally turned to face him.

Miko awkwardly cradled the three little, black bodies in her arms. She had to use her elbows to climb back into his cab after he automatically swung the door open. The little bodies continued to loudly squeak, and one tumbled out of her hold and onto his seats. Bulkhead tensed at the little pinpricks that dug into the leather. "_Miko_."

"I can't believe somebody would just abandon a bunch of kittens!"

Bulkhead paused the short admonishment he had thought to give the girl for just leaping out of his moving form. Her face had turned a shade of red he was unfamiliar with, and she held the little kittens close to her after catching the runaway. They were tiny compared to her—exceptionally tiny compared to him—and two of them continued to mewl while the third wiggled in Miko's hold. "How do you know they were abandoned?"

"Kittens plus cardboard box equals only one thing, Bulk." Miko adjusted her grasp on the wiggling kitten. It scrambled out of her lap before she could grab it again. "They didn't even leave any food, or, or a sign telling people there were kittens inside!"

"It's okay, Miko," Bulkhead said slowly. The third kitten escaped again, and Miko huffed when she scooped it up again. "You found them."

"Yeah because I just happened to look out the window at the right time." Miko released a heavy sigh and didn't bother to grab the troublesome kitten when it escaped again. The adventurous animal wobbled back and forth as it ventured forth into the unknown territory of the front seat. "I just can't believe someone would just abandon them like nothing ever happened."

"Nothing we can do about it now." Bulkhead almost wished he could grab the kitten himself when it wobbled to close to the edge of the seat. It certainly had no sense of fear or anxiety like the other two. "Maybe you could get Jack to help you find a home for them."

"_Or_." Bulkhead almost chuckled at the drawn out word. Except his spark did a little flip when the kitten lunged across the seat and almost flew over the edge. Tiny things putting themselves in peril didn't do his spark any good. "We could just, you know, keep them?"

"Miko."

"Black cats bring good luck!"

"I doubt Ratchet will buy that."

"I've already named this one Hibiki!"

"More like Miko, Jr."

"_Bulkhead_."

"_Miko_."

Miko stuck her tongue out at his dashboard, and Bulkhead chuckled. Until Hibiki attempted another suicide lunge to catch whatever it was after. No, tiny things and his spark didn't go well together.

* * *

Smile  
Prompt: Mask  
Characters: Bluestreak  
Universe: G1  
Word Count: 226

* * *

Bluestreak smiled for everyone.

He smiled when Prowl assigned him to patrol with Huffer; he beamed when Optimus complimented his sniping; he laughed when Sideswipe dragged him into some prank; he grinned when Jazz grinned at him.

Bluestreak talked enough for everyone.

He talked when a broody Sunstreaker obviously tuned him out; he babbled while Ratchet patched a hole in his door-wing; he struck up a conversation when Wheeljack was working in the lab; he even managed to get a word or two in with the Dinobots until they ran him away.

Bluestreak only stopped when he was alone.

In his room by himself, he didn't smile. He quietly sat on his berth, falling into memories—memories of before the war, memories of the war beginning, recent memories of the war. When thinking became too much, he pulled out a simple puzzle game that Jazz had given him vorns ago.

Vorns? Perhaps longer—centuries. Many, many centuries.

Bluestreak didn't smile when he solved the puzzle; he didn't say a word as he stashed it away once more and stood to leave. Once the door to his hab-suite opened, he plastered a smile on his face and struck up a conversation with the first Autobot he encountered.

Bluestreak smiled and talked for everyone except himself.

* * *

Egg Catastrophe  
Prompt: Plot Tropes  
Characters: Bumblebee, Arcee, Bulkhead, Rafael  
Universe: Prime  
Word Count: 611

* * *

Bumblebee watched the egg with the trained finesse of an Autobot soldiers. When Bulkhead's heavy footsteps shook the platform, he tensed in preparation to keep the little orb from tumbling off the fluffy pillow it sat on. He noticed when the bunker's air unit kicked on, specifically timed to keep the children at a comfortable temperature, and he tucked a blanket around the egg when he decided it was too cold. He even gave Ratchet a little side look when the medic bumped into the platform nearby while showing Optimus something on the computer screen.

Bumblebee kept his optics on the egg, refusing to glance away for even a second.

"Bumblebee?"

Bumblebee whirred and quickly glanced at the femme that now stood beside him. He snapped his gaze back to the egg and nudged the pillow farther back onto the couch. He whirred again when he felt Arcee slightly move. "I can see that you're busy, I'm just wondering _why_ you're busy."

Bumblebee beeped and gestured at the egg before falling silent again. Arcee sighed. "You're watching an egg?"

Bumblebee whirred.

"Rafael's school project? Why would he need you to watch an egg for a school project?"

Bumblebee released a series of beeps and whirrs, using his hands to pantomime cradling something in his hands and gently rocking them back and forth. Arcee's mouth twitched into a small smile. "Humans really pretend that something they eat is a baby?" Bumblebee nodded enthusiastically and honed back in on watching the egg. "Well, I'm sure nothing will happen to the egg if you take a little break. The kids should be back with June soon enough."

A low-pitched buzz escaped the scout, and Arcee reached up to pat him on the shoulder. "I promise. Now how about you come help me take inventory on the Energon we just got from the Decepticons?"

Arcee smiled at the sudden perk in Bumblebee's door-wings. She knew the mere mention of their latest victory—all thanks to a crafty maneuver on Bumblebee's part—would put the scout in a better mood. Bumblebee whistled and stepped away from the platform.

They were only a few steps away when Bulkhead shouted. "Watch out!"

Bumblebee screeched, and Arcee had barely turned around before a sudden crash rang through the room. Bumblebee's screech morphed into anguished beeps and whistles as he raced back to the platform where Bulkhead's lobbing ball had crushed most of the children's entertainment area.

Arcee winced when Bumblebee went silent, tossing the ball aside to assess the damage. She winced again when a pathetic drone escaped the scout. As Bumblebee pinched a piece of fabric in his hand, now stained with a little yellow spot, Bulkhead jogged up to stand beside her. "Sorry about that! Was just practicing a little…what's wrong with 'Bee?"

Arcee sighed as Bumblebee now frantically looked around the bunker for a way to save the smashed egg. "We may have just awakened the maternal side of Bumblebee."

Bulkhead's optics winked, but he didn't respond as the base's proximity alarm went off. Bumblebee froze and watched June's car casually rolled into the base. Miko was the first to pop out, stuffing fries in her mouth even as she waved at Bulkhead. Jack and June slid out of the front seats, and Rafael was the last to exit the car, holding his bag of food to his chest.

Bumblebee flinched back when the boy smiled at him. "Hey, 'Bee! We're finally back. Did you keep an eye on the egg?"

Arcee sighed as Bumblebee attempted to hide the graphic image of egg on the blanket. She wouldn't hear the end of this for a while.

* * *

**AN: **So some comments about a few things:

**Team of Heroes**: At the time I wrote this, I hadn't been able to see season 4 yet...and nearly 6 months later, I still haven't been able to watch it. XD But anyway, I had seen something floating around about Blades having a blog, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong (6 months later ;P).

**Keep on Survivin'**: I'd like to think this is somehow canon to the Drone storyline. We can just pretend it was an untold moment that happened in A Drone Named Jeffrey. ;P

**Lawbreaker**: I've always wanted to write about an Autobot actually getting pulled over by the police because they were speeding. XD

**D-7**: This was written when I was having a not-so-great week during the semester, and Wheeljack always seems to be my go-to when I want to play around with something. Ratchet kinda just came along for the ride. :)

**Archivist**: I really have no idea where/how this idea spawned, but the thought of a tiny Orion wandering into the Hall of Records made me smile at the time. :D

**Dr. Sideswipe, Ph.D**: Since the prompt for this one was "Phobia," I chose three phobias from a list I found to incorporate into the fic:Panophobia: Fear of Everything (aka paranoia); Peniaphobia: Fear of Poverty/Poor People; Cacophobia: Fear of Rust. That being said, Ratchet does not approve. :3

**Lucky Black Cat**: Miko seems like such a neglected character, and I love her to pieces. XD

**Smile**: I went the figurative route for the prompt, mainly because Bluestreak always stuck out to me as being a complex character with a terrible past (before the IDW comics made it cool). Plus, Blue is one of my favorite characters (aside from Wheeljack...and now Mirage...and Rodimus...), so I always like to take opportunity to jump into their head when the mood strikes. :D

**Egg Catastrophe**: The idea of Bumblebee helping Rafael with one of those stupid "being a parent for a day" assignments just made me giggle. And of course, the egg had to go in the end because I'm just evil (and that's just how the trope goes). ;P

So there ya go! Hope you guys enjoyed all the flash fics (and maybe in the future I do better at actually cross-posting them here XD).


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